Combustion Engineer

Here at The Exploration Company, we are building spacecraft for humanity. Here at The Exploration Company we are developing, producing, and operating Nyx, a modular and reusable orbital space vehicle that aims to eventually be refuellable in orbit - and potentially fly humans in the long run. The heart of a spacecraft lies in its engine, and that's why we, at The Exploration Company, are dedicated to developing our own cutting-edge Propulsion Systems ensuring the highest level of efficiency and reliability in our space endeavours. We are seeking a talented Combustion Engineer to join our Future Project division. As a key member of our engineering team, you will be responsible for contributing to designing, analyzing, and optimizing combustion devices for cryogenic rocket engines.

Responsibilities

Provide support to global combustor fluidic system development through application of both theory and/or CFD; Drive and/or contribute to injector design and optimisation against combustor requirements and design intent using theory and/or CFD; Support definition of instrumentation for hot-fire testing and assist with post-test data interpretation and CFD/model correlation; Reduce and analyse hot-fire test data to derive performance and combustion-stability metrics, and maintain associated data processing tools; Support design reviews with clear technical justification of analysis methods, assumptions, and margins

Requirements

Minimum of a Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related discipline; 3+ years of relevant/equivalent experience in combustion, propulsion, or reacting-flow engineering; Solid foundation in bi-liquid rocket combustion processes; Strong background in reacting-flow CFD (e.g. ANSYS, OpenFOAM, Converge) using RANS and/or LES; Strong scripting and data-analysis ability in Python or similar; Exposure to liquid rocket injector CFD; Experience with combustion of cryogenic propellants; Structured and methodical approach to problem solving; Demonstrated rigour: checks reference calculations, documents assumptions, and treats a discrepancy between prediction and test as a problem to be solved rather than dismissed; Ability to work under technical uncertainty and iterate models as test data becomes available; Clear written and verbal communication of assumptions, methods, and conclusions; Comfort working in cross-disciplinary teams across thermo-mechanical, systems, and test engineering; Strong analytical rigor and attention to detail

Nice to have

Familiarity with combustion instability, thermoacoustics, or uncertainty quantification; Experience supporting or participating in hot-fire test campaigns; Demonstrates behaviors consistent with The Exploration Company's core values of Mission, Vision, Integrity, Excellence, and Teamwork

Benefits

Relocation assistance for those willing to relocate; Visa sponsorship where applicable; Agile, open and collaborative work environment