Sr. Fluid Systems Engineer (Propulsion)
Firefly Aerospace
Software Engineering
Cedar Park, TX, USA
Posted on Tuesday, September 13, 2022
ABOUT FIREFLY AEROSPACE
Firefly Aerospace Inc. is an American end-to-end space transportation company committed to providing economical and convenient access to space for small payloads through the design, manufacture, and operation of reliable launch and spacecraft vehicles. Firefly’s launch vehicles utilize common technologies, manufacturing infrastructure, and launch capabilities, providing LEO launch solutions for up to ten metric tons of payload. Combined with Firefly’s in-space vehicles, such as the Space Utility Vehicle (SUV) and Blue Ghost Lunar Lander, Firefly provides the space industry with a single source for missions from LEO to the surface of the Moon or beyond. Firefly is headquartered in Cedar Park, TX.
SUMMARY
The Fluid Systems team at Firefly is integrated within the Propulsion and Fluids department. Our team is responsible for all fluid subsystems across our launch vehicles and spacecraft, including our Blue Ghost Lunar Lander. As a Senior Fluid Systems engineer you will work across the full lifecycle of hardware, including requirements definition, design, analysis, development, test, and qualification of the launch vehicle and spacecraft fluid systems. In this role you will serve as both a mentor and technical contributor towards our development and production programs. We’re looking for someone who’s a self-starter, enjoys questioning the status quo, and working in a dynamic and cross-disciplinary team.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- End to end ownership of vehicle fluid systems requirements and design
- Act as the focal point for design, analysis, and operations of vehicle fluid systems
- Identify areas of improvement/risk and conduct corresponding trade studies
- Drive development of automation, analytical, and test data reduction tools
- Sit on console to provide launch and test operations support
- Develop lean vehicle test and launch processes for fluid systems and assist the launch and test teams with troubleshooting during operations
- Provide mentorship in several key areas of fluid systems including design, analysis, and operations of vehicle fluid systems
- Work closely with our analysis team to develop automation, analytical, and test data reduction tools
- Develop test and launch processes for fluid systems and assist the launch and test teams with troubleshooting during operations.
QUALIFICATIONS
Required
- Bachelor’s Degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or equivalent
- 4+ years of hands-on experience designing, developing, and operating fluid systems
- Deep understanding of fluid dynamics and thermodynamics
- Solid understanding of fluid components such as valves, tubing, pressurized hardware, seals, bearings, and instrumentation (RTDs, pressure transducers, level sensing, flow measurement, …)
- Working knowledge of manufacturing, fabrication, integration processes & quality control relevant to fluid components (valves, flex hoses, tubing, bellows, etc.)
- Demonstrated ability in clean sheet pressurization, propellant systems, or other complex multidisciplinary systems designs
- Experience using fluids analysis tools such as REFPROP, GFSSP or other computer-based fluid dynamic modeling
- Programming experience with at least one compiled computer language (preferably FORTRAN or C/C++) and one interpreted language (preferably Python or MATLAB) for model development and scripting.
- Proficient with 3D & 2D CAD software packages such as Siemens NX.
Desired
- Advanced degree in mechanical, aerospace, or equivalent field
- 1+ years of experience with hypergolic fluid systems design
- 1+ years of test experience involving hypergolic propellants
- Experience in aerospace flight production programs
- Coordinate and execute development, qualification, and acceptance testing of flight hardware
- Experience with thermal vacuum or random vibration testing
- Working knowledge of spacecraft subsystems
- History of developing solutions with partially defined requirements and changing criteria
Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, pet Insurance, and flexible PTO options.
To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.
Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.
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