Lead Aerothermal Engineer

The roleHop Aero is hiring an Aerothermal Engineer to own the aerothermal environment and heat-shield program at Hop Aero. This is a foundational technical role - this person will establish our internal capability from first-principles. What you will ownDevelop coupled trajectory, aerodynamic and thermal analyses with the GNC and systems teams.Lead heat-shield architecture and material trades.Translate thermal predictions into vehicle requirements, interfaces, mass budgets and instrumentation needs.Plan and execute coupon, subscale and flight-like thermal testing.Develop internal high-enthalpy test capability.Support vehicle configuration trades related to aerothermodynamics.Establish analytical correlation and model-update processes using ground-test and flight data.Own aerothermal and TPS risks through design reviews and flight-readiness reviews. RequirementsDemonstrated ability to execute in a similar role5-10 years of relevant experience with hypersonic aerothermodynamics, atmospheric entry, high-temperature flows or other relevant thermal protection systems.Experience with aerodynamic heating, thermal analysis and relevant CFD or engineering analysis tools.Demonstrated ability to design and interpret thermal-material or high-enthalpy tests.Ability to work directly with structures, GNC, avionics, propulsion and test teams.Willingness to be highly hands-on in a small, fast-moving hardware organization. Nice-to-haveExperience owning a reentry or hypersonic vehicle from cradle to grave.Experience with ablative TPS materials, joints, attachments and penetrations.Experience with arcjets, plasma torches, engine-plume rigs or other high-enthalpy test methods.Experience designing flight thermal instrumentation.Prior work at a fast-moving startup. Hop Aero will only consider U.S. persons as defined by ITAR for this role. Hop Aero will not sponsor visas for this role.