Staff Analysis Engineer

ursamajor; United States; Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited PTO

Health insurance (Medical, Dental, VIs

Disability insurance

Life and AD&D

401(k) match

Equity grants

Remote-friendly / Colorado facility

Job summary

ursamajor in Colorado seeks a senior engineer to lead structural and thermal‑fluids analysis for aerospace vehicles and propulsion systems. You will provide technical leadership across engine programs, contribute verification, feed design feedback, and mentor other engineers.

This is a fast‑paced, safety‑critical role with remote or on‑site options at the Colorado facility; candidates must be US persons eligible for a security clearance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, or closely related engineering field.
• Approximately ten or more years of structural and/or thermal-fluids analysis on vehicles or propulsion systems.
• Hands-on FEA/FEM experience with commercial codes such as ANSYS, Abaqus, or NASTRAN-based solvers.
• Track record anchoring analytical or fluid models to physical test data.
• Fatigue and fracture experience, including high‑cycle fatigue, low‑cycle fatigue, linear elastic fracture mechanics, or NASGRO.
• Working knowledge of CFD or 1D fluid system modeling with tools such as ANSYS Fluent/CFX, ROCETS, GFSSP, or SINDA/FLUINT.
• Programming skill for analysis automation and data processing, preferably Python; MATLAB acceptable.
• Clear written and verbal communication in a fast-paced, safety-critical environment.

Responsibilities

• Run static, dynamic, fatigue, and fracture analyses tied to performance, reliability, and life targets.
• Build system-level and detailed FEA/FEM models for vehicles and propulsion hardware, including load propagation.
• Perform thermal-structural or coupled thermal-stress analyses involving nonlinear materials, large strains, and vibration/shock studies.
• Verify and validate analytical and fluid models against physical test data, partnering with test teams on instrumentation.
• Apply hand calculations and CFD to evaluate pressure drops, mass-flow distribution, and component behavior, and develop steady-state and transient 1D fluid models.
• Collaborate with design, systems, and manufacturing on requirements, standards, and disposition of nonconforming hardware and repairs.
• Support anomaly and failure investigations through structural and fluid modeling and root-cause analysis.

Skills

FEA/FEM software

Python

MATLAB

CFD knowledge

test data correlation

technical communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering

Master's or PhD in Mechanical/Aerospace (Nice to have)

Tools

ANSYS

Abaqus

NASTRAN

ANSYS Fluent/CFX

ROCETS

GFSSP

SINDA/FLUINT

Job description

Role overview

A senior engineering role focused on structural and thermal-fluids analysis for aerospace vehicles and propulsion systems. The position provides technical leadership across multiple engine programs and supporting subsystems, contributing verification, design feedback, and mentoring of other engineers. Work spans safety-critical hardware in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment, with remote or on-site options at a Colorado facility.

Responsibilities

• Run static, dynamic, fatigue, and fracture analyses tied to performance, reliability, and life targets.
• Build system-level and detailed FEA/FEM models for vehicles and propulsion hardware, including load propagation.
• Perform thermal-structural or coupled thermal-stress analyses involving nonlinear materials, large strains, and vibration/shock studies.
• Verify and validate analytical and fluid models against physical test data, partnering with test teams on instrumentation.
• Apply hand calculations and CFD to evaluate pressure drops, mass-flow distribution, and component behavior, and develop steady-state and transient 1D fluid models.
• Collaborate with design, systems, and manufacturing on requirements, standards, and disposition of nonconforming hardware and repairs.
• Support anomaly and failure investigations through structural and fluid modeling and root-cause analysis.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, or a closely related engineering field.
• Approximately ten or more years of structural and/or thermal-fluids analysis on vehicles or propulsion systems.
• Strong grounding in structural mechanics or in fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and heat transfer.
• Hands-on FEA/FEM experience with commercial codes such as ANSYS, Abaqus, or NASTRAN-based solvers.
• Track record anchoring analytical or fluid models to physical test data.
• Fatigue and fracture experience, including high-cycle fatigue, low-cycle fatigue, linear elastic fracture mechanics, or tools such as NASGRO.
• Working knowledge of CFD or 1D fluid system modeling with tools such as ANSYS Fluent/CFX, ROCETS, GFSSP, or SINDA/FLUINT.
• Programming skill for analysis automation and data processing, preferably Python; MATLAB acceptable.
• Clear written and verbal communication in a fast-paced, safety-critical environment.

Nice to have

• Master's or PhD in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering with emphasis in solid mechanics, fatigue/fracture, structural dynamics, fluids, or thermal sciences.
• Twelve or more years of combined structural and fluids analysis, ideally in rocketry or turbomachinery.
• Background in modal, random vibration, or shock response analysis.
• Specialized CFD (pumps, turbines, cavitation, combustion, unsteady flows) and transient 1D modeling, such as water hammer or engine start transients.
• Experience with cryogenic, high-pressure pneumatic, two-phase, supercritical, or compressible flow systems.
• Familiarity with turbomachinery methods such as Campbell diagrams or rotordynamics, or work with composites, insulation, and ablative thermal protection.
• Prior support for failure investigations on development, test, or flight hardware.

Benefits and work setup

• Base compensation range of $140,000 to $175,000, set by education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities.
• Unlimited paid time off covering vacation, sick, personal, and bereavement, plus paid parental and adoptive leave.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance with HSA and FSA options.
• Employer-paid short- and long-term disability, basic life and AD&D, with voluntary life and emergency medical transport coverage.
• Employee assistance program, a 401(k) retirement savings plan with company match, and equity grants.
• Remote-eligible or on-site at a Colorado facility; full-time, exempt classification.
• Candidates must be U.S. persons and eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.