Turbomachinery Aerodynamics Engineer

Golden Gate Recruiting; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous stock package

Medical, vision, and dental care

2% 401(k) matching

Job summary

Golden Gate Recruiting is partnering with American Turbines in San Francisco to find an Aerodynamics Engineer who will own the aerodynamic design of the compressor and turbine stages, from concept to validated hardware.

You'll run meanline, CFD, and blade-profile work to optimize efficiency and operating range while coordinating with manufacturing to ensure design intent is realizable. On-site in SF with competitive compensation.

Qualifications

• Experience in turbomachinery aerodynamic design across compressor and turbine stages.
• Proficiency with meanline and throughflow tools, and 3D CFD workflows.
• Familiarity with small gas turbines, turbochargers, or turboshaft engines preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own aerodynamic design of compressor and turbine stages from concept to testing.
• Define flow path, stage count, and blade profiles to optimize efficiency.
• Run CFD, compare with hardware tests, and close the loop between prediction and measurement.

Skills

Turbomachinery aero design

Meanline / throughflow tools

3D CFD

Blade parametric design

Tools

ANSYS CFX

Numeca

Job description

Golden Gate Recruiting is thrilled to be hiring for American Turbines, a seed-stage hard tech company in San Francisco backed by the investors behind SpaceX, Boom Supersonic, and Hadrian!

About American Turbines

The power grid was built for a world that no longer exists. Centralized generation, hundred-mile transmission lines, decade-long permitting cycles. Meanwhile, demand is exploding: AI data centers, industrial electrification, remote operations that need megawatts yesterday and can't wait for utilities to catch up.

American Turbines is designing small modular gas turbines, purpose-built for distributed power generation. Machines designed from a blank sheet to be manufactured at scale, clustered in arrays. Hundreds of units operating in parallel, dynamically matching load like a compute cluster matches demand. We are a seed-stage company backed by the investors behind SpaceX, Boom Supersonic, and Hadrian.

About the Role

The Aerodynamics Engineer will own the aerodynamic design of both the compressor and turbine stages, from meanline modeling through detailed 3D blade shaping and test correlation. You will directly determine the efficiency, stability, and operating range of the machine.

You will define the flow path architecture, set the stage count, and design the blade profiles that make this turbine produce power. You will run the CFD, interpret the results, and make the calls on when the design is good enough to cut metal. When hardware comes back from the shop, you will instrument it, run it, and close the loop between prediction and measurement.

What We're Looking For

Experience in turbomachinery aerodynamic design, ideally across both compressor and turbine stages. Proficiency with meanline and throughflow tools, 3D CFD (ANSYS CFX, Numeca, or equivalent), and blade parametric design. Familiarity with small gas turbines, turbochargers, or turboshaft engines is strongly preferred.

You understand the tradeoffs between efficiency, surge margin, and manufacturability. You can move fast between conceptual sizing and detailed design without losing rigor. You've seen hardware run and know what CFD gets right and what it gets wrong.

Compensation and benefits

• $140,000 to $185,000 base.


• Generous stock package.


• Medical, vision, and dental care.


• 2% matching on 401(k).

Location and work authorization

• This role is fully on-site in San Francisco (Dogpatch). You must live in the SF Bay Area or be open to relocating to San Francisco.


• Visa sponsorship and visa transfers are not offered for this role. Applicants must be authorized to work in the US without sponsorship.