Senior Performance Engineer

About the role

The Leonardo DRS Naval Power Systems business is a trusted provider of innovative naval gas and hybrid power systems, control technology and support solutions for the U.S. Navy and navies around the world. Join our Fitchburg, MA team as an experienced engineer supporting the performance, flow path, and thermal-fluid design considerations of steam turbines and related turbomachinery.

Responsibilities

• Perform thermodynamic and aerodynamic analyses to support the design, evaluation, and optimization of steam turbine flow paths and associated components.
• Assess turbine performance through a combination of 0D, 1D, 2D, CFD, and related engineering analysis methods using commercial tools, internal methods, or equivalent developed approaches.
• Support or lead investigations into flow, pressure, temperature, loss, leakage, and energy distribution issues within turbine systems.
• Contribute to the design and evaluation of turbine flow path features including nozzles, buckets, valves, inlet flow passages, seals, packing, exhaust plenums, and related hardware as applicable.
• Develop and execute trade studies that balance performance goals with mechanical, structural, acoustic, manufacturability, and program requirements.
• Shape or evaluate overall steam path architecture to enable stable flow behavior and efficient energy conversion.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate thermo-aerodynamic design considerations into broader product development efforts.
• Prepare and present technical analyses, recommendations, and status updates to engineering leadership and program stakeholders.
• At higher levels, provide technical guidance, mentor earlier career engineers, and independently drive focused work scopes to closure.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, or related technical field with progressively responsible relevant experience; typical target range is Senior through Senior Principal.
• Strong experience in turbomachinery, steam turbines, gas turbines, rotating machinery, or related thermal-fluid performance applications.
• Experience in thermodynamic analysis, aerodynamic analysis, or integrated performance analysis of turbine or turbo machinery systems.
• Proficiency in compressible fluid flow, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and thermodynamics as applied to rotating machinery.
• Experience with performance modeling methods such as bulk flow, lumped parameter, meanline, throughflow, or related engineering analyses.
• Experience with loss mechanisms, flow path shaping, leakage effects, and performance tradeoffs in turbine systems.
• Experience using commercial CFD and engineering analysis tools such as Ansys Fluent, CFX, TurboGrid, BladeModeler, or equivalent software.
• Working knowledge of loss mechanisms, flow path shaping, leakage effects, and performance tradeoffs in turbine systems.

Secondary Skills, Experience, And Aptitude To Grow

• Experience with steam as a working fluid and performance considerations specific to steam turbine systems.
• Experience evaluating seals, packing, exhaust hoods, valves, or auxiliary flow applications in rotating machinery.
• Experience with parameterized models, design studies, optimization methods, or thermal-fluid interaction analyses.
• Exposure to Navy Nuclear applications, defense industry product lines, or highly regulated engineering environments.
• Ability to independently lead technical tasks and contribute to planning, estimation, and execution of analysis work packages.

Pay

The salary range for this position is $102,433/year to $159,027/year. This range reflects the good faith estimate of pay the employer is willing to offer at the time of posting. Several factors can influence the pay scale, including but not limited to: Federal contract labor categories and contract wage rates, collective bargaining agreements, geographic location, business considerations, scope, and responsibilities of the position, local or other applicable market conditions, and internal equity.