Propulsion Manager (Fluid Systems)

Firefly Aerospace - Cedar Park, TX

Full-time - Senior

Cedar Park, TX

Transportation Equipment Manufacturing

About the position

The Propulsion Manager (Fluid Systems) at Firefly Aerospace is responsible for leading the fluids systems engineering team throughout the entire lifecycle of hardware development. This role involves overseeing the design, analysis, development, testing, and qualification of fluid systems for launch vehicles and spacecraft. The manager will also serve as a technical contributor, mentoring team members and collaborating with cross-disciplinary teams to ensure successful project execution and alignment with company goals.

Responsibilities

• Direct and supervise the activities of the Fluids Systems team across launch vehicle and spacecraft programs.
• Implement initiatives to identify market opportunities, mitigate business risks, and maximize core strengths.
• Strategically plan projects and allocate resources, including both budget and personnel management, to achieve fluid system requirements supporting company goals.
• Identify core competencies and define operational goals for fluids personnel.
• Provide guidance around the design, analysis, and operations of vehicle fluid systems.
• Work closely with our analysis team to develop automation, analytical, and test data reduction tools.
• Develop test and launch processes for fluid systems and assist the launch and test teams with troubleshooting during operations.
• Provide mentorship and training opportunities to team to improve performance and career development.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or equivalent.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience designing, developing, and operating fluid systems.
• 2+ years of proven experience leading and managing technical teams in both technical deliverables and career development.
• Deep understanding of fluid dynamics, heat transfer, thermodynamics, structural analysis, and control theory.
• Solid understanding of fluid components such as valves, tubing, pressurized hardware, seals, bearings, and instrumentation (RTDs, pressure transducers, level sensing, flow measurement, etc.).
• Track record of identifying and driving improvements for vehicle performance related parameters.
• Working knowledge of manufacturing, fabrication, integration processes & quality control relevant to fluid components (valves, flex hoses, tubing, bellows, etc.).
• Demonstrated ability in clean sheet pressurization, propellant systems, or other complex multidisciplinary systems designs.
• Coordinate and execute development, qualification, and acceptance testing of flight hardware.
• Experience using fluids analysis tools such as REFPROP, GFSSP or other computer-based fluid dynamic modeling.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience in aerospace flight production programs.
• History of developing solutions with partially defined requirements and changing criteria.
• Programming experience with at least one compiled computer language (preferably FORTRAN or C/C++) and one interpreted language (preferably Python or MATLAB) for model development and scripting.
• Proficient with 3D & 2D CAD software packages such as Siemens NX.

Benefits

• Disability insurance
• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Tuition reimbursement
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Vision insurance
• Pet insurance