Job Title: Propulsion Engineer
Duration: 6 Months
Location: Huntsville, AL
Shifts: First 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Summary:
As Thrust Vector Control (TVC) Lead Engineer for the Space Launch System, you will lead the technical development, integration, qualification, and sustainment of TVC systems (actuators, pivots, nozzles, control electronics, and sensors). You will be the lead engineer for key TVC hardware and system-level performance, and you will manage strategic supplier relationships to ensure schedule, cost, quality, and risk objectives are met. This role requires deep analytical capability, strong technical leadership, and exceptional cross-disciplinary communication.
Responsibilities:
- Serve as the Lead Engineer for assigned TVC hardware and system elements, owning technical requirements, baselines, change management, and certification artifacts.
- Lead technical planning, execution, and trade studies for TVC architecture, actuator sizing, control laws, thermal/mechanical loads, lubrication, materials, and redundancy considerations.
- Develop and approve technical requirements, drawing packages, interface control documents (ICDs), and test plans; drive compliance to system requirements.
- Lead supplier program management: source selection support, contract technical direction, performance monitoring, design reviews, supplier risk assessments, corrective action oversight, and configuration control.
- Coordinate and conduct subsystem and system-level test campaigns (component tests, qualification, hot-fire, functional/acceptance tests), analyze data, and lead anomaly investigations and resolution.
- Drive structural, thermal, fluid, and control systems analyses, including FEA, dynamic modeling, control simulation, margins, and life-cycle predictions; verify analytical models against test data.
- Perform failure modes and effects analyses (FMEA), fault tree analyses (FTA), reliability and maintainability assessments, and life-limited parts tracking.
- Lead multidisciplinary engineering reviews and represent the TVC discipline in system-level design reviews and integration meetings.
- Mentor and lead a team of engineers and specialists.
- Communicate program technical status, risks, and mitigation plans to program leadership, suppliers, and stakeholders through concise verbal briefings and written technical reports.
Required skills:
- Experience with actuators, pivots, nozzles, control electronics, and sensors.
- Propulsion experience - specifically experience with space explorations (historical shuttle experience, other lunch systems or companies (SpaceX, Lockheed, etc.)
- Bachelor's degree in engineering (will really focus on candidates with bachelor's in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, structural engineering, and chemical engineering).
- Technical lead experience (responsible/chief/lead engineer).
- Minimum of 10 years of experience with TVC engineering.
- US person is required.
Plusses:
- Experience with data analysis tools, specifically MATLAB, NASTRAN.
- Previous experience with Root cause corrective action analysis and processes (RCCA).
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Spectraforce Technologies
Dec 22, 2025