Combustion Devices Development Engineer | TCA Injectors

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.

At the heart of a spacecraft lies in its engine, 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 endeavors.

We are seeking a talented Combustion Devices Development Engineer to join our Future Projects division with primary responsibility for injector head development for the main thrust chamber assembly for our high-thrust engine. This role is responsible for injector architecture mechanical and fluidic design, and maturation of the design from concept through hot-fire testing. This technical role has a strong emphasis on design engineering and fluidic analysis.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the mechanical, fluidic, and thermal design of the main injector head for cryogenic rocket engines, including faceplate architecture, element design, manifolding, and interfaces.

• Own injector design trades balancing performance, stability margin, manufacturability, and reusability requirements.

• Produce and maintain detailed CAD models, drawings, and configuration-controlled design data suitable for development and flight hardware.

• Apply heat transfer and fluid mechanics fundamentals to injector design, including pressure drop allocation, flow distribution, cooling considerations, and thermal boundary conditions.

• Support combustion performance and stability considerations in collaboration with combustion and systems engineers.

• Support component- and subsystem-level test campaigns and participate in test definition, execution, and post-test data interpretation.

• Work directly with manufacturing teams and external suppliers on process qualification and design-for-manufacture iterations.

• Contribute to internal design standards, best practices, and mentoring engineers.

What we would love to see from you

• Masters/bachelors with honours or higher in Aerospace Engineering, or a related and applicable technical discipline.

• Demonstrated experience in the design and development of injector hardware or thrust chamber components.

• Demonstrated experience taking hardware from concept through detailed design, manufacture, and test.

• Strong fundamentals in combusting flows, heat transfer, and high-pressure fluid systems.

• Proficient with CAD (Siemens NX is an asset), and/or other CAE design and analysis software (i.e. ANSYS).

• Experience with CFD, FEA, and reduced-order flow analysis tools.

• A methodical approach to problem-solving and design trades.

• Experience scripting or software development that support design workflows in languages such as Python.

Skills and Behaviors

• Strong and clear written and verbal communication and able to convey technical rationale to a wide variety of stakeholders.

• Strong analytical ability and disciplined problem solving under ambiguity and schedule pressure.

• Structured, methodical approach to problem solving and design iteration.

• Effective prioritization across concurrent tasks and development streams.

• Excited for the future of space exploration and a strong interest in propulsion systems.

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

• Space enthusiast: ready to have an impact on the future global space industry

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.