Aerothermal Analysis Engineer (Aerospace)

Location: On-site in the Greater Seattle Area, Washington, or San Carlos, California

Company

hirify.global is building satellite infrastructure for generating and distributing energy and data in orbit and between space and Earth.

What you will do

• Generate aerodynamic pressure and heating environments for launch vehicle ascent and re-entry trajectories using engineering tools and CFD codes.
• Set up, run, and post-process viscous, reacting-flow CFD simulations for surface heating, pressure distributions, and boundary-layer transition.
• Translate aeroheating predictions into thermal protection system and structural material selection, sizing, and margin assessments.
• Develop and maintain version-controlled aeroheating databases with uncertainty bands and design factors.
• Define arc-jet, wind-tunnel, and flight-instrumentation test requirements and correlate analytical predictions with test data.
• Coordinate with aerodynamics, structures, thermodynamics, propulsion, and systems engineering teams and document results for design reviews.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
• 3+ years of aeroheating analysis experience for launch vehicles, re-entry vehicles, or hypersonic systems.
• Proficiency with engineering-level aeroheating tools such as MINIVER, UNLATCH, or equivalent.
• Experience with viscous CFD solvers for high-speed, high-temperature flows, such as DPLR, LAURA, or US3D.
• Strong understanding of hypersonic aerodynamics, boundary-layer physics, and convective and radiative heat transfer.
• Experience developing aeroheating databases, defining uncertainties and margins, supporting design reviews, and authoring technical documentation.

Nice to have

• Master’s or PhD in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 5+ years of aeroheating analysis experience, including flight-certified programs.
• Hands-on experience with arc-jet or high-enthalpy wind-tunnel testing and test-to-analysis correlation.
• Experience with radiative heat transfer, ablative TPS response modeling, and tools such as FIAT or CHAR.
• Python or MATLAB scripting experience for automated CFD and aeroheating database post-processing.