Senior Spacecraft Propulsion Lead — Hybrid (Arvada)

Moog; Arvada (CO); Hybrid; USD 115,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual profit sharing

401k matching

Employee stock purchase plan

Relocation assistance

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Moog in Arvada, CO is seeking a Senior Spacecraft Propulsion Engineer to lead propulsion system architecture, design, analysis, integration, qualification, and on‑orbit support across the full program lifecycle. You will develop propulsion requirements, specifications, interfaces, schematics, verification plans, and technical documentation.

The role requires 5+ years of propulsion experience, hands‑on propulsion hardware work, and strong knowledge of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, or a closely related technical field.
• 5+ years of relevant engineering experience, including substantial experience with spacecraft, launch vehicle, missile, or comparable flight propulsion systems.
• Experience designing, analyzing, integrating, or testing propulsion systems and flight hardware.
• Strong knowledge of propulsion, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, compressible flow, and pressurized-fluid systems.
• Experience with propulsion components such as thrusters, tanks, pressure vessels, valves, regulators, tubing, fittings, and instrumentation.
• Ability to perform system sizing and performance analyses, including delta-v, propellant quantity, water hammer, mass flow, pressure drop, and margin assessments.
• Experience developing requirements, verification plans, test procedures, engineering documentation, and technical risk assessments.
• Experience leading technical teams, design reviews, supplier oversight, trade studies, and anomaly investigations.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including experience presenting technical information to multidisciplinary teams, leadership, customers, and suppliers.
• Ability to support occasional travel and off-shift testing and support when required.
• It would be great if you also had:

Responsibilities

• Lead spacecraft propulsion system architecture, design, analysis, integration, qualification, and on‑orbit support across the full program lifecycle.
• Develop propulsion requirements, specifications, interfaces, schematics, verification plans, and technical documentation.
• Perform system sizing, trade studies, propellant budgeting, pressure‑drop and transient analyses, performance modeling, and mission maneuver assessments.
• Select and integrate propulsion components, including thrusters, tanks, valves, regulators, lines, instrumentation, heaters, and flow‑control devices.
• Plan and support qualification, acceptance, functional, environmental, leak, proof‑pressure, flow, and hot‑fire testing.
• Support spacecraft assembly, integration, propellant loading, pressurization, launch‑site activities, and flight operations.
• Conduct reliability, safety, and failure analyses; support anomaly investigations, root‑cause assessments, and corrective actions.
• Ensure compliance with pressure‑system safety, hazardous‑material handling, contamination‑control, and applicable industry requirements.
• Provide technical oversight of suppliers, including design reviews, manufacturing support, test‑data evaluation, and nonconformance resolution.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary engineering and program teams, participate in major design and readiness reviews, and communicate technical risks and recommendations.
• Develop operational constraints and procedures; support telemetry analysis, maneuver planning, propulsion performance trending, and remaining‑propellant estimation.
• Support new business pursuits by developing propulsion concepts, system architectures, technical solutions, cost and schedule estimates, risk assessments, and proposal content.
• Participate in customer engagements, proposal reviews, and technical presentations; evaluate mission requirements and communicate propulsion capabilities, trade‑offs, and discriminators.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship while supporting program cost, schedule, risk, and proposal activities.

Skills

Propulsion theory

Thermodynamics

Fluid mechanics

Heat transfer

Compressible flow

Pressurized fluids

System sizing

Requirements development

Leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, or a closely related technical field

Job description

Moog in Arvada, CO is seeking a Senior Spacecraft Propulsion Engineer to lead propulsion system architecture, design, analysis, integration, qualification, and on‑orbit support across the full program lifecycle. You will develop propulsion requirements, specifications, interfaces, schematics, verification plans, and technical documentation.

The role requires 5+ years of propulsion experience, hands‑on propulsion hardware work, and strong knowledge of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and