(SRM) Solid Rocket Motor Engineer - Arlington & Hurt, VA with Security Clearance

About the role

AVIO USA is building a subsidiary from scratch in the USA and needs to hire 5 Solid Rocket Motor Engineers (employees #3 - #7). These can be at the Junior, Mid, or Senior level to work on the design and manufacturing of SRMs (Solid Rocket Motors).

Responsibilities

• Create and refine CAD models for motor components like nozzles, throats, and insulators using tools such as SolidWorks or Siemens NX.
• Perform 2D and 3D structural analysis (FEA) to ensure integrity under extreme pressures and temperatures.
• Collaborate with analysts to define propellant grain geometries and optimize burn rates, thrust curves, and pressure profiles.
• Lead static fire test campaigns and ground-based prototyping.
• Analyze test data to validate performance and investigate any anomalies.
• Oversee propellant casting, curing cycles, and the implementation of advanced manufacturing techniques like additive manufacturing or composite tape wrapping.
• Ensure all designs and handling procedures adhere to energetic material safety standards and DOD/NASA regs.

Requirements

• Must have an Aerospace/Mechanical/Chemical Engineering (or similar) degree and 2 or more years of experience working on the design and manufacturing of SRMs (Solid Rocket Motors).
• Must have experience in Propulsion, Thermal, Energetics, and/or Aerospace Mechanical Engineering with core focus on the design, development, and/or subcontractor management of SRMs.
• Must be comfortable dealing with a lot of ambiguity.
• Must have GREAT communication skills with exceptional ability to manage complex stakeholder relationships, particularly between international parent companies and U.S. defense primes like Raytheon.
• The positions will focus on design, analysis (FEA/thermal), and testing of propulsion hardware (nozzles, structures, propellant systems) and will require structural or thermal experience within a defense program.
• Must be US Citizen with ability to obtain a U.S. Secret Security Clearance for ITAR restrictions.
• Ideal candidate will have experience with several (not all) of these key technical skills, including SRM – Solid Rocket Motor Propulsion, ANSYS mechanical (or Abaqus), FEA (Finite Element Analysis) for Nozzle / Propellant / Grain / Thermal / High Temp / High Pressure / SolidWorks or Siemens NX, Testing (static fire, ground test), and Structural and Thermal analysis.
• Must be strong in FEA/CFD simulation software ANSYS and understand thermodynamics and fluid mechanics.
• Must have hands-on experience with Propellant Chemistry or energetic material handling.
• Must have knowledge of Composite Pressure Vessel (COPV) design and filament winding and should be familiar with Insensitive Munitions (IM) protocols.
• Should have some experience in several other domains, including Structural Components, SRM Performance, Structure Dynamics, Extreme Temperature Components, Materials and Process, Supply Chain / Procurement, and Quality Assurance.