Senior Propulsion Development Engineer

Astro Mechanica•San Francisco, CA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Astro Mechanica is looking for a Senior Propulsion Development Engineer to join our growing team. The ideal candidate is someone who has a deep-seated understanding of complex system dynamics, and can take full ownership of hardware testing from concept to production. Your work at Astro Mechanica will have a direct impact on the configuration and performance of the turboelectric adaptive jet engine. In this role, your mission will be to shepherd our innovative jet engine and subsystems hardware from early prototype through flight qualification, vehicle integration, and aircraft flight. You will have the firsthand responsibility that every new design is rigorously tested to ensure quality and performance metrics are met prior to aircraft integration before leaving the ground. You embody the test-like-you-fly philosophy.

Requirements

5+ years hands-on experience with fluidic and propulsion systems, test operations, and data analysis
Experience with hazardous environments (flammables, high voltage, pressurized systems) and safety mitigations
Knowledge of fluid systems and instrumentation hardware (pressure, temperature, load cells, relays, solenoids, regulators, pneumatics)
Knowledge of rotating machinery operation and instrumentation (natural frequencies, vibration and high-speed data acquisition)
Familiarity with data acquisition and control systems, PLC hardware, communication protocol, data structures, and software interfaces
Familiarity with test instrumentation, data reduction, and anchoring analysis with experimental results
Skilled in engine cycle modeling tools (GasTurb, NPSS) and scripting tools (Python, Matlab) for analysis automation and data processing
Takes initiative for continuous improvement (not just completing assigned tasks)
Flexibility to work in fast-paced environment
Attentive to detail and maintain a high level of quality in all work

Responsibilities

Create test plans, objectives, methodologies, and establish operational ranges
Define instrumentation placement with understanding of measurement limitations
Analyze data for characterization hardware behavior and performance
Diagnose hardware/software problems efficiently and perform corrective actions
Hold data reviews communicating test results while highlighting anomalies
Maintain data processing scripts, develop automation to increase test throughput and reliability
Analyze test data and integrate findings into system-level performance models and next-gen hardware design cycles
Utilize propulsion cycle models (GasTurb, NPSS) to predict engine performance from analytical maps and operating conditions
Continually improve facility capabilities to increase test throughput and reliability