Sr. Propulsion Engineer – Thermo-Mechanical Analysis

At Blue Origin we envision millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth.Wereworking to develop reusable safe and low-cost space vehicles and systems within a culture of safety collaboration and inclusion. Join our team of problem solvers as we add new chapters to the history of spaceflight!

This role is part of the Blue Origin Engines business unit where our focus is the design development manufacturing and testing of engines and propulsion systems. Built for multiple uses our family of engines is powering the next generation of rockets for commercial civil national security and human spaceflight.

As part of our hardworking team of engineers you will own the thermo-mechanical modeling of our large-scale rotating hardware. You will build and maintain 2D axisymmetric whole-engine models of the rotor and casing integrate them with secondary-flow networks and predict the metal temperatures structural margins and running clearances thatdeterminewhether our turbomachinery performs and survives. This position is integral to the success of our missions and requires strong familiarity with rotating-equipment structural and thermal analysis.

We are looking for someone to apply their technicalexpertise leadership skills and commitment to quality to positivelyimpactsafe human spaceflight. Passion for our mission and vision is!

Special Mentions:

• Relocation provided

• Travel expected up to 20% of the time

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Developmaintain and own 2D axisymmetric thermo-mechanical whole-engine / whole-pump models of rotating equipment predicting metal temperaturescomponentdeflections and clearances across the full operating envelope.

• Translate 3Dcomponentand assembly geometry into efficient 2D axisymmetric representations that capture the governing thermal and structural features.

• Implement transient operating profiles (startup acceleration steady-state throttle transients shutdown and cooldown / soak-back) and assess their effect on differential growth and clearances.

• Work closely with secondary-flow analysts to develop conjugate thermal-fluid models translating internal-flow network outputs (cavity pressures temperatures leakage flows windage) into convective boundary conditions using rotating-discgaspath and cavity heat-transfer correlations; calibrate against rig and engine test data.

• Apply thermal boundary conditions to axisymmetric structural models to predictrotor stackcasingstack separation marginradial fits andcriticalradial / axialclearance closure across transients forcritical flowareaand rub marginassessment.

• Performcomponentstructural margin bolted-joint and interference-fit assessments using 2D and 3D ANSYS and feed results to life assessment (LCF / HCF / creep).

• Synthesize thermal and structural analysis results into actionable operability guidance informing and negotiating system-levelConOpstrades that balanceshardwarereliability andlife against mission performanceobjectives.

• Collaborate across disciplines design aero / CFD secondary flowrotordynamics materials and test to anchor analysis assumptions and resolve complex hardware issues.

• Develop andmaintainanalysis-driven design requirements and documentation; contribute technical artifacts to subsystem and program gated reviews (SRR PDR CDR MRR TRR).

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering Aerospace Engineering or a related field.

• Minimum of 8 years of experience in mechanical / structural / thermal analysis of rotating machinery or comparable high-performance hardware (or fewer years withdemonstratedownership of awhole-engine/ 2D axisymmetric thermo-mechanical model).

• Hands-on experience with transient thermal and nonlinear structural finite element analysis in ANSYS (contact plasticity thermal-structural coupling).

• Demonstrated experience building (not just running) whole-engine / 2D axisymmetric thermo-mechanical models of rotating equipment.

• Ability to independently derive convective heat-transfer boundary conditions from engineering correlations (does not depend on a separate CFD team to populate a thermal model).

• Experience working in cross-disciplinary engineering teams.

• A track recordof taking ownership showing resilience in the face of challenges and consistently delivering results.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 10 years of relevant industry experience.

• Experience working in aerospace.

• M.S. or Ph.D. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering or a related discipline.

• Experience producing tip-clearance / pinch-point predictions that informed clearance budgets or active clearance control.

• Life assessment experience: thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) creep low-cycleand high-cycle fatigue (LCF / HCF).

• Rotordynamicsliteracy (Campbell diagrams critical speeds bearing support stiffness) sufficient to close the radial clearance budget.

• Experience correlating and calibrating thermo-mechanical models against rig or engine test data.

• Componentdesign experience (bladed rotors /blisks discs casings seals bolted joints).

• Scripting and automation (Python MATLAB ANSYS APDL).

• Working knowledge of ASME Y14.5 GD&T and tolerance / stack-up analysis.

• Experience with 1D fluid-network tools (e.g.Flownex) and proprietary whole-engine-model toolchains.

• Background in gas turbines steam turbines APUs turbochargers or oil & gas dense-gas compressors / expanders.

• Demonstrated use of or genuine enthusiasm to adopt modern AI-assisted engineering tools (e.g. LLM-based coding/analysis assistants integrated into the daily development environment) to accelerate modeling scripting and documentation.

• Experience with LabVIEW and MATLAB.