Principal Combustion Devices Engineer

Neutron is a medium-lift launch vehicle being developed by Rocket Lab, a publicly traded end-to-end space company. The rocket can deliver the mega constellations of tomorrow, enable interplanetary payloads, and support human spaceflight. As a reusable platform, Neutron will deliver a very cost-effective and reliable...

Based out of Rocket Lab's headquarters in Long Beach, CA, the Principal Combustion Devices Engineer will be responsible for the development of one or more combustion devices (preburners, main injectors, thrust chambers assemblies and vacuum nozzles). These devices are an integral portion of the 200,000 lbf Archimede...

In this role, you’ll take ownership of all aspects of a component: design and analysis, manufacturing and test support, and successful flights and subsequent, high-cadence, re-flights. By doing so, you will help propel the Neutron rocket, expanding human capabilities in space and providing value to the company and i...

Design, analyze, and perform trades studies to achieve programmatic targets. 
Define requirements, test and flight qualification plans.  
Work with the interface owners, like turbomachinery and engine systems teams, to make a high-end product that could be iterated fast and seamlessly.
Work with manufacturing and build engineers to design easily manufacturable, cost-effective, beautiful parts.
Work with the test and launch teams to interpret data and provide solutions to enable a high cadence – of tests, flights and re-flights. 

Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline or equivalent 
12+ years of combustion device design experience
In-depth knowledge of combustion and fluid dynamics, heat transfer and structural mechanics. 
Fundamental understanding of design principals and manufacturing methods.
Master’s or a PhD.
Advanced proficiency in NX, ANSYS Mechanical, StarCCM, MATLAB and GD&T.
Proficiency in niche software like: TDK, ROCCID, PERCORP, CEA, ROCETS.
Reacting flow CFD.
Expertise in high-speed data/video analysis in time and frequency domains.
Experience with designing reusable, propulsively landing rocket engines.
Experience in an iterative and scrappy development environment. 

Citizenship of AU / NZ / EU / NATO