Propulsion Engineer - Engine Balance Analyst
A thriving economy in space is needed to make life on Earth more vibrant, sustainable, and equitable. Space technology will enable global access to information, solutions to climate change, answers to global food security, products that transform healthcare, clean energy production, and more. Today, rocket launch options are slow, expensive, and unreliable. Stoke is building the world’s most efficient fully and rapidly reusable rocket designed to fly daily that will radically increase access to space and open up the space economy to safeguard our precious home, Earth.
Description
Fully reusable launch vehicles are the key to seamlessly connecting Earth and space. As an Engine Balance Analyst at an early-stage start-up, you will own the control system design, transient analysis, engine balance simulation and modeling activities for advanced reusable rocket engines. You will work closely with all aspects of engine design and testing; creating performance maps, building engine simulations, defining engine control schemes, and developing reduced-order HIL and flight controller models. You will seek out state-of-the-art analysis techniques and build tools to advance the company standards for engine performance analysis methods.
Responsibilities
- Develop Stoke’s in-house engine-simulation software stack
- Author and maintain 1D-lumped parameter models for a pump-fed rocket engine
- Collaborate with GNC and vehicle software REs to develop and tune engine control schemes
- Own the generation of engine control tables, tuning orifices, and sensitivity maps. Develop tools and processes for others to routinely generate these
- Be the expert on your engine’s transient behavior. Develop valve schedules and sequence logic for all nominal and off-nominal startup and shutdown scenarios
- Trend engine and component performance parameters across different hardware configurations, test stands/vehicles, and iterations
- Create new nodes, solvers, interfaces, etc for Stoke’s fluid modeling libraries (Rust/Python based)
- Author APIs, libraries, and web interfaces (React) for engineering consumption of model results, performance curves, and hardware history/performance
- Guide engine development and iteration. Maintain up-to-date trade factors across the engine system, and work with vehicle and subcomponent REs to identify and implement improvements to efficiency, power, and reliability
- Conduct ground-up architectural trade studies for future engine versions
Qualifications
- Fundamentals in thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, compressible flow, and cryogenics
- Ability to determine appropriate level of work for a problem (from hand calcs to multi-physics finite element solutions) and execute the work accordingly
- In depth knowledge of Rust, C/C++, Python, and/or Javascript
- Experience in web development using React/Flask or similar tech stacks
- Experience in data visualization and interpretation, particularly timeseries and frequency-domain (e.g. spectrograms, waterfall plots, FFTs)
- Proficiency in analyzing multi-phase fluid flow and heat transfer, especially related to cryogenics
- Experience with engine control schemes for controlling mixture ratio, and thrust
- Experience with open-loop and closed-loop feedback control systems
- Experience developing detailed multi-variable performance maps of pumps, turbines, injectors, valves, regens, and manifolds derived from design data, CFD, and test data
- Experience building and anchoring steady-state and transient 1D engine models
- Experience building reduced-order models for Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) plant models and flight controller models
- Expertise in 1D (lumped parameter) system simulation tools and thermal/fluid modeling tools (e.g., ROCETS, SINDA/FLUINT, GFSSP, Simulink, Amesim, etc.)
- 2+ years of experience in transient performance modeling of complex engineering systems
- Ability to lead
- Ability to follow
- Excellent written and verbal communication
- Bachelor’s degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering, or similar
- Willing to relocate to Seattle, WA.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, vision and basic life insurance
- 401(k) match
- Paid time off
- Flexible scheduling
- Equity
Compensation
Target Levels:
- Level 2 range: $104,500 - $141,400
- Level 3 range: $123,000 - $184,000
- Level 4 range: $144,100 - $240,100
Our job posts are intentionally written to attract a wide variety of experience levels, and we make decisions about the right fit on a per-candidate basis.
Your actual level and base salary will be decided based on your specific experience and skill level.
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.
Equal Opportunity
The Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including with respect to disability and veteran status. It is committed to compliance with all equal opportunity laws, including the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and Title VII. It does not discriminate on the basis of nationality, race, citizenship, immigration status, or any other protected class when it comes to employment practices, including hiring.
Employment at the Company is contingent upon satisfactory completion of reference and background checks, and on your ability to prove your identity and authorization to work in the U.S. for the Company. Employees must comply with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services employment verification requirements, and, therefore, they must complete an Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 at the start of employment and re-verify authorization to work periodically.
Separate from this I-9 process, this position entails access to certain technology and technical data that is restricted under U.S. export control laws and regulations. Employment or continued employment may be conditioned on your legal authorization to work with or have access to export control materials as necessary to perform your job.