Staff Aerothermal CFD Engineer
Inversion
Turning Space into a Transportation Layer for Earth
Who We Are:
Eras of humanity can often be defined by a dominant transportation mode - horse-drawn chariots, ocean-going boats, or aircraft. These were spurred by a small group of people rigorously focused on building technology to achieve faster access to more of the world. We seek to usher in a new era of humanity defined by universal access to the whole globe free of borders and the presence of a routine way from space to Earth. To do this, we are building highly maneuverable re-entry vehicles that can loiter in orbit before precision landing back on Earth.
What You’ll Do:
Inversion’s lifting-body reentry platform will create a highly maneuverable, highly accurate, and low-cost vehicle that will be an industry-first. The Staff Aerothermal Engineer will be responsible for characterizing the aerothermodynamic environment on and around the vehicle with an emphasis on the rarefied flow regime. This role will be a key contributor to Inversion's advanced modeling efforts, and responsible for developing, improving, and implementing cutting-edge CFD tools and workflows.
On a day-to-day basis, the staff aerothermal engineer will lead the creation of high-fidelity simulations, mentor team members, and act as the driving force behind our efforts to build confidence in our vehicle models. This is a unique opportunity to help define the CFD strategy for groundbreaking technology, creatively solve novel high-speed flow challenges, and play a pivotal role in the design of next-generation hypersonic systems.
Successful candidates will have a background in DSMC simulation or familiarity with multi-physics plasma environments, a passion for pushing those tools to their limits and the drive to extend them when the work demands it.
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent experience
- Typically, 9+ years of experience in hypersonic, supersonic, reentry, or rocketry external flow-field aerothermodynamic analysis
- Strong experience with high fidelity simulation of gas dynamics at conditions where inter-molecular forces must be considered (SPARTA, DAC, MAP, plasma simulation tools, etc.)
- Familiarity with Fidelity Pointwise, Link3D or equivalent meshing software for generating high-quality meshes suitable for a variety of simulations
- Strong knowledge of flows in thermal-chemical non-equilibrium
- Experience modeling mixed-regime flows such as plumes exhausting into rarefied flows.
- Experience integrating ground & flight test data into aerothermal vehicle models
- Proficiency in uncertainty quantification & relevant mathematical models
- Proven ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment, including prototyping and rapid iteration of new products
Desired Qualifications:
- Masters / PhD in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering, or an equivalent field.
- Experience modifying CFD solvers or coupling them for multi-physics simulations
- Experience with high temperature gas flow solvers (US3D, DPLR and/or LAURA)
- Experience with modeling radiative heating using radiation transport tools
- Experience conducting a comprehensive CFD campaign, from a vehicle’s early stages to the first flight
- Experience using programming languages like Python, Fortran, C++, MATLAB, etc.
- Involvement in planning, leading, and/or post-processing arc-jet tunnel campaigns
Our office headquarters is located in Playa Vista, CA. This position requires in-office presence.
The California annual base salary for this role is currently $160,000-$200,000. Pay Grades are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual pay will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: interviews and an assessment of several factors that are unique to each candidate, job-related skills, relevant education and experience, certifications, abilities of the candidate and internal equity.
