Manager of Propulsion Analysis

The Manager of Propulsion Analysis is a key role that manages Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analyses and best practices for all propulsion hardware developed by Ursa Major. The analysis conducted by the team is broad and multi-faceted across all engine hardware. For mechanical analyses, the team is responsible for stress/strain, LCF/HCF, modal, acoustic, vibrational, thermal, & non-linear analyses of engine hardware. For fluidic analysis, the team is responsible for incompressible, compressible, combustion, & multi-phase fluid analysis in 1 to 3 dimensions as necessary using industry standard software or internally developed and validated analytical tools. The manager role will maintain best practices, training, and documentation practices across all developed products. Additionally, this role may be engaged in customer-level conversations as required.  

As a Manager, this role will be continuously engaged in the development of domain best practices and lessons learned, technology development, capital expenditure planning, and an extreme attention to individual mentorship, hiring, and growth of the analysis team as our products evolve.  

Responsibilities: 

• Manage a team of 3+ individuals through direct mentorship, coaching, and guidance to successfully hit internal and external program and project milestones. 
• Plan and execute hiring ahead of program needs. Maintain an up to date hiring model. 
• Engage in technical mentorship and training with team members to broaden and enhance skillsets and capabilities within the group to create a world-class analysis team. Additionally, host training sessions for employees outside of the analysis team in software tools that enable analysis outside of the formal team. 
• Ownership of analysis processes, best practices, and appropriate analysis margin strategy through the ownership of the Structural Assessment Plan (SAP) document. Ensure that hardware analyses are conducted in alignment of this document. 
• Management of risk related to fluid or mechanical loads for products in either development or production in an appropriate manner based on product maturity in close concert with the Chief Engineering team and other team directors. Maintenance of margin bookkeeping across products. 
• Assist in development of Engine Loads Book with the Chief Engineering team applicable to each product. 
• Ownership of analysis documentation expectations and best practices. 
• Engagement with customers in technical discussions related to engine loads, analysis, or analysis risks alongside the Mission Program Management (MPM) and Chief Engineering teams. 
• Development and ownership of analysis validation activities and initiatives on real engine hardware. 
• Contributing to FEA & CFD Analyses to support the teams workload. 

Required Qualifications: 

• Minimum of a B.S. degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering. 
• Comfortable working in fast-paced, startup environment. 
• Experience writing and reviewing component specifications. 
• Analysis experience with rocket engine products or related aerospace hardware, specifically in both CFD and FEA domains. 
• Working knowledge of industry accepted aerospace-level analysis methodology and software toolsets. 
• Experience in root-cause analysis. 
• Experience and proficiency in “hand-calc” analysis, utilizing manual calculations of engine loads or predicted analysis variables to anchor analyses in complex software packages. 

Desired Experience: 

• 8+ years’ experience in aerospace-grade hardware mechanical or fluid analysis. 
• Demonstrated success as project or team lead across multiple programs. 
• Exemplary written and verbal communication skills. 
• Experience working at a small company / startup environment. 
• Development of aerospace hardware systems from prototype to production-capable / flight-worthy hardware. 
• Deep experience with typical analysis software packages such as (but not limited to) ANSYS, Abaqus, NASTRAN, CFX, or FLUENT. 

Colorado law requires us to tell you the base compensation range of this role, which is $150,000- $190,000, determined by your education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities. The salary range for this role is intentionally wide as we are evaluating individuals based on their unique experience and abilities to fit our needs. Most importantly, we are excited to meet you, and see if you are a great fit for our team. What we can’t quantify for you are the exciting challenges, supportive team, and amazing culture we enjoy.