Hydraulic Engineer

Trillium Flow Technologies•Hunters Creek Village, TX

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Hydraulic Engineer — Centrifugal Pumps at Trillium Flow Technologies is a professional engineering role within the Research & Development department responsible for the hydraulic design, analysis, testing, and performance optimization of centrifugal pump hydraulic components — including impellers, diffusers, bowl assemblies, volutes, and inducers — across Trillium's pump product lines. Trillium serves customers in power generation, oil & gas, water & wastewater, and general industry with highly engineered centrifugal pumps, and this role is the technical owner of internal hydraulic performance for assigned product families. Greater than 50% of work time is spent on professional hydraulic engineering activities requiring advanced turbomachinery knowledge, independent engineering judgment, and discretionary decision-making consistent with the Learned Professional exemption under FLSA 29 C.F.R. §541.301 and the Professional exemption under California Labor Code §515. The Hydraulic Engineer reports to the R&D Manager and collaborates closely with the Senior Hydraulic Engineer, Mechanical Design Engineers, and R&D Technicians. This role integrates AI-assisted CFD, pump performance prediction, and hydraulic design optimization tools as standard engineering practice and operates with extreme ownership over all assigned hydraulic deliverables.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or closely related engineering discipline from an ABET-accredited institution — coursework in fluid mechanics, turbomachinery, thermodynamics, and heat transfer required
0–3 years of professional engineering experience in centrifugal pump or rotating equipment design, development, or testing in an industrial, energy, or fluid-handling equipment environment
Foundational knowledge of centrifugal pump hydraulic theory: Euler's turbomachinery equation, velocity triangles, specific speed, affinity laws, pump similarity, hydraulic losses, and slip factor
Understanding of pump performance curves (H-Q, efficiency, BHP, NPSHr) and the ability to analyze operating point behavior, stable operating range, and performance derating under off-BEP conditions
Familiarity with NPSH concepts — NPSHr, NPSHa, suction specific speed, cavitation inception, and the consequences of insufficient NPSH margin on pump performance and component life
Proficiency with 3D CAD software (SolidWorks or equivalent) for hydraulic component geometry modeling; ability to read and create engineering drawings with GD&T per ASME Y14.5
Exposure to or coursework in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) — setup, mesh generation, boundary conditions, and results interpretation for internal flow applications
Strong analytical problem-solving skills with the ability to apply fluid mechanics fundamentals to centrifugal pump hydraulic design challenges

Nice To Haves

Experience designing or analyzing centrifugal pump hydraulic components — impellers, diffusers, bowl assemblies, volutes, or inducers — in a manufacturing or product development environment
Working knowledge of ANSI/HI standards (1.1-1.6, 9.6.1, 9.6.3, 9.6.5, 14.6) and/or API 610 for centrifugal pump design and acceptance testing
Hands-on experience with pump performance testing — instrumentation, data acquisition, pump curve generation, and hydraulic efficiency calculation
Experience with turbomachinery CFD using ANSYS CFX, ANSYS Fluent, or equivalent — particularly internal flow analysis of rotating/stationary passages in centrifugal pumps
Knowledge of impeller and diffuser design methodologies — 1D mean-line design, blade-to-blade analysis, and 3D inverse design or direct CFD optimization
Familiarity with centrifugal pump material selection for hydraulic components — cast iron, 316 SS, duplex stainless, CD4MCu, bronze — relative to fluid compatibility, erosion resistance, and cavitation damage tolerance
Engineer-in-Training (EIT) certification or active pursuit of Professional Engineer (PE) license in California
Experience with ERP-integrated engineering change order (ECO) processes in a manufacturing environment (Epicor or equivalent)

Responsibilities

Design centrifugal pump hydraulic components — impellers, diffusers, bowl assemblies, volutes, and inducers — applying turbomachinery design principles including velocity triangles, specific speed (Ns/Nq), head coefficient, flow coefficient, and hydraulic efficiency targets to develop internal geometries that meet pump performance specifications
Develop and optimize pump performance curves (H-Q, efficiency-Q, power-Q, NPSHr-Q) for assigned pump families; apply design methods to achieve best efficiency point (BEP) targets, flatten the curve for stable operation, and meet head rise-to-shutoff requirements across the operating envelope
Support the commercial and application engineering teams with technical responses to customer hydraulic queries, pump selection guidance, and bid qualification review for non-standard duty points
Perform NPSH analysis and cavitation assessment for centrifugal pump designs — calculate NPSH required (NPSHr), evaluate NPSH available (NPSHa) margin per ANSI/HI 9.6.1, assess suction specific speed (Nss), design inducers where required to extend low-NPSH operating range, and apply cavitation erosion mitigation strategies to impeller and inducer geometries
Execute computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of internal pump hydraulics — impeller passage flow, diffuser/volute pressure recovery, recirculation zones, radial and axial thrust loads — using ANSYS CFX, Fluent, or equivalent; interpret results and translate findings into geometry modifications that improve hydraulic performance
Apply hydraulic design standards — ANSI/HI 1.1-1.6 (rotodynamic pumps), ANSI/HI 9.6 series (NPSH, vibration, derating), API 610 (centrifugal pumps for petroleum/petrochemical), API 685 (sealless pumps) — as applicable to the pump type and service to establish design requirements and acceptance criteria
Develop and execute hydraulic performance test plans per ANSI/HI 14.6 (pump test acceptance criteria); participate in factory acceptance testing (FAT) and laboratory performance testing; analyze test data to validate hydraulic model predictions, calculate hydraulic efficiency, and document acceptance against specification tolerances
Conduct root cause analysis (RCA) on hydraulic performance shortfalls, field failures, and cavitation damage — impeller erosion, volute cracking, diffuser recirculation, axial thrust imbalance — using engineering analysis, CFD review, and field data; develop and validate corrective hydraulic design changes
Assist with completing hydraulic design documentation — design specifications, predicted performance curves, CFD reports, FMEA, test protocols, test reports, and engineering change orders — maintained in Trillium's engineering document management system in accordance with applicable codes and internal quality standards
Support hydraulic selection for custom engineered-to-order (ETO) pump configurations — evaluate customer duty point requirements, select impeller trim, determine operating point on the performance curve, assess NPSH margin, and provide technical input to application engineers and the commercial team
Collaborate with the Mechanical Design Engineer and Manufacturing Engineering to ensure hydraulic geometries are producible — casting tolerances, machining allowances, surface finish requirements, and assembly clearances — without compromising hydraulic performance targets
Assist Procurement with hydraulic component supplier qualification — casting foundry capability assessments, pattern approval, dimensional inspection criteria for impeller and bowl castings
Maintain hydraulic test rig calibration records and coordinate scheduled maintenance on performance test loops with R&D Technicians
Monitor industry developments through participation in Hydraulic Institute (HI) technical committees, API standards working groups, and pump industry technical conferences relevant to Trillium's product roadmap
Uses AI-assisted CFD and simulation tools to accelerate hydraulic flow modeling, thermal analysis, and performance optimization across design iterations — reducing physical prototype cycles
Uses AI-generated design review summaries, FMEA risk scoring assistants, and automated standards-compliance checkers to improve engineering documentation quality and review cycle speed
Actively learns and adopts new AI-enabled engineering tools introduced by the R&D team as part of Trillium's AI-driven organization standard; contributes to process improvement proposals for the R&D department
Documents all AI tool outputs, model assumptions, and validation evidence in the engineering record — AI-generated analysis is treated as a starting point requiring engineering judgment and verification, not a final answer
Takes full ownership of every hydraulic design decision, test result, and performance commitment — if the pump doesn't hit the curve, the Hydraulic Engineer owns the gap analysis and the fix
Proactively identifies and escalates hydraulic design risks — NPSH margin concerns, off-BEP stability issues, cavitation vulnerability, axial thrust imbalance — before they become field problems or customer complaints
If a hydraulic design fails in testing or the field, initiates root cause analysis without waiting to be directed, and owns seeing the corrective design and re-validation through to closure in coordination with senior engineering review
Owns hydraulic performance issues end-to-end — investigating why a pump misses its curve or cavitates in the field rather than deferring to manufacturing or quality — while partnering with a Senior Engineer or Manager for technical direction on resolution.
Raises schedule risks, resource constraints, or technical blockers with a proposed solution and a timeline — not just an alert — and follows through until closed