Propulsion Design and Production engineer

• Job Location: belval, Luxemburg
• Type: Permanent
• Posted: 28/03/2023

In this endeavour, you will be an instrumental member of a small team building the new generation of Comet water-based propulsion system. Our small team in Luxembourg focuses on the objective of building a reliable, performing, and mass-optimised water-based propulsion system for the nano-microsatellite market and future ISRU missions/applications. As a Propulsion Design & Production Engineer you will be involved across design, analysis and production tasks to build a more reliable and lower cost next generation of Comet thrusters. You will provide input into the development of the new hardware and lead the design and production processes.

The operation will aim to blend the responsible high-quality engineering practices of traditional aerospace engineering while implementing the rapid iterative development methods and dynamic workplace culture of a New-Space style start-up.

Key responsibilities
• Lead the design and production tasks of the new generation of Comet thrusters
• Generate CAD models for the engine parts, assemblies and tooling components
• Work with the development team to evaluate designs for manufacturability and test requirements
• Work with the development team to refine product designs to ensure are able to be manufactured, increase producibility and decrease costs.
• Develop and qualify new processes to bring products from design to production
• Develop processes for manufacturing and assembly to enable timely and reliable production of the new Comet product line
• Develop necessary ground support equipment and tooling
• Generate and maintain manufacturing BOMs, work instructions & specifications and master planning documents for the production
• Maintain product finishing design drawings
• Guide/train and supervise technicians to build and assembly hardware
• Plan and maintain production schedules
• Manage inventory control, procurement and supply chain
• Support on hardware troubleshooting together with test engineers
• Support on the development of test plans

Essential skills
• Bachelor’s degree or higher education degree in Manufacturing Engineering, Aerospace, Mechanical or related engineering discipline
• 2+ years of working experience in mechanical design and/or manufacturing environment (aerospace, automotive, etc.)
• Proficient with CAD modelling tools (preferably Inventor) to design parts and complex assemblies
• Working experience with hardware fabrication and assembly
• Experience developing hardware and tooling from concept to prototype
• Experience with manufacturing techniques, processes and equipment
• Proficient English language skills


Strongly valued/desired skills
• Experience in tooling design and machine process/operations (welding, bending, drilling, etc.)
• Experience with product development life cycle
• Experience with creating and reading complex engineering drawings
• Experience with Geometric, Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T)
• Knowledge of fluid dynamics, structural mechanics and materials
• Experience with process mapping and fault analysis
• Understanding of spacecraft subsystems and the trade-offs between them
• Knowledge of each phase of spacecraft components development
• Experience with FEA tools and structural analysis
• Programming experience (C++, Python, Matlab, Excel, etc.)
• Design-for-manufacturing experience and supplier management
• Familiarity with relevant industry standards (e.g. ECSS, GEVS)
• Practical experience running test campaigns (TVAC, vibration, etc.)
What we can offer in return

We offer you the chance to develop a completely new generation of launch-safe thrusters to enable additional capabilities to future smallsat missions, from station keeping and debris removal to prospecting and ISRU missions in our solar system. You would take on an influential role in a new, revenue-generating company, with a mandate to focus on technical design and implementation on an aggressive development schedule featuring rapid hardware iterations. The position is in Luxembourg, a beautiful, cosmopolitan and welcoming country at the heart of Europe.

Duty station: Belval, Luxembourg, with occasional travel needed
We would usually expect candidates to have 2+ years of experience in relevant fields. The role is open to candidates of any age, gender, orientation, that have or can get work authorization within the EU.

Capital International Staffing Ltd is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.