Thermo-mechanical Engineer

Here at The Exploration Company, we are developing, producing, and operating Nyx, a modular and reusable space orbital vehicle that can eventually be refuelled in orbit and that can carry cargo - and potentially humans in the longer run.

The heart of a spacecraft lies in its engines, and that's why we, at The Exploration Company, are dedicated to developing our own cutting-edge Propulsion Systems ensuring the highest level of efficiency and reliability in our space endeavours.

We are seeking a talented Thermo-mechanical Engineer to join our Future Project division. As a key member of our engineering team, you will be responsible for designing, analyzing, and optimizing combustion devices for cryogenic rocket engines, with a focus on the main thrust chamber assembly.

• Support structural and thermal analysis of combustion device hardware including injector heads, faceplates, combustion chambers, manifolds, and structural interfaces.

• Perform finite element analysis (FEA) and establish practical design suggestions and establish design recommendations, and margin assessments for hardware development.

• Develop and apply analytical and reduced-order models to estimate heat transfer, structural loads, and thermal boundary conditions to inform design trades and hardware maturation.

• Support hardware development and maturation, including design iteration, development planning, test definition, and post-test assessment of structural and thermal performance.

• Drive life assessment activities, including low-cycle fatigue, thermal fatigue, cyclic loading, margin tracking, and damage accumulation for reusable hardware.

• Own structural reliability and lifecycle assessments of combustion hardware, including low-cycle fatigue, thermal fatigue, cyclic loading, and thermo-mechanical failure risk evaluation.

• Collaborate with combustion and fluid engineers to translate predicted heat flux distributions, pressure fields, and flow characteristics into structural and thermal design requirements

• Define structural and thermal instrumentation strategies for development testing and participate post-test data reduction, model validation, and correlation activities.

• Contribute to material selection and design trades considering temperature capability, strength, fatigue resistance, oxidation compatibility, and cryogenic behavior.

• Prepare technical documentation and contribute to design, and test reviews with clear technical justification and risk assessment.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.

• Experience (academic, internship, or professional) in structural or thermal analysis of high-performance mechanical systems.

• Strong fundamentals in solid mechanics, heat transfer, and pressure-loaded structures.

• Experience with FEA tools such as ANSYS, NASTRAN, Abaqus, or equivalent.

• Ability to interpret complex thermal and pressure boundary conditions and apply them appropriately in structural models.

• Understanding of fatigue, temperature-dependent material behavior, and nonlinear structural response.

• Exposure to high-temperature or cryogenic systems is advantageous.

• Familiarity with CAD (NX ideally) tools and ability to work directly with geometry.

• Experience with Python or similar scripting tools for analysis automation or data processing is beneficial.

Skills and Behaviours

• Methodical and structured approach to problem solving.

• Strong attention to detail and analytical rigor.

• Clear written and verbal communication of technical rationale.

• Ability to iterate analyses as design and test data evolve.

• Interest in propulsion systems and combustion device development.

• Demonstrates behaviors consistent with The Exploration Company’s core values of Mission, Vision, Integrity, Excellence, and Teamwork.

Why you should join us!

What makes us special here at The Exploration Company and why we think you will enjoy working here is:  

• We’re Agile - we make decisions fast whilst keeping our goals and systems in mind 

• We’re Open and Collaborative - we are transparent about risks and obstacles, so that we can cooperate to overcome them  

• We have a lot of Fun - we refuel our energy knowing we are democratising space. It’s a wonderful and rare opportunity, are YOU up for the challenge?  

We'd love to hear from you if you wish to be a part of our journey. Please submit your CV now for immediate consideration and we will be in touch shortly. 
 
The Exploration Company is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status. Relocation assistance is provided for those willing to relocate including visa sponsorship where applicable.  

All offers are contingent upon the successful completion of a background check, which will be subject to the country, role, and project you applied for. By submitting your application, you acknowledge and agree that any offer of employment may be conditional upon successful condition of this check. The Exploration Company partners with Zinc Work Limited located in the UK (Zinc), a third-party provider, to ensure this process as efficient and transparent as possible.
If applicable, you will receive an email from Zinc upon acceptance of your offer with a link to a secure portal where you can provide the required information to Zinc.