Senior Engineer, Propulsion (Fleet Support) (R5005)
Senior Propulsion Engineer serving as the propulsion SME for the V-BAT Fleet Support team, diagnosing escalated engine issues and driving reliability improvements across fielded unmanned aircraft systems.
About the job
Responsibilities
- Serve as the propulsion SME for Fleet Support and the primary engineering point of contact for propulsion-related escalations.
- Diagnose and resolve engine performance issues, including hard starts, unstable operation, power loss, thermal excursions, endurance degradation, and intermittent behavior.
- Troubleshoot engine mechanical and hardware issues, including vibration, wear, leaks, mounting or interface issues, actuator concerns, and component failures.
- Investigate fuel and oil system issues, including pressure, flow, filtration, contamination, venting, priming, lubrication, and thermal-management problems.
- Analyze flight data, maintenance records, teardown findings, and field reports to identify failure modes and define corrective actions.
- Develop troubleshooting procedures, inspection criteria, repair guidance, and return-to-service recommendations for Fleet Support personnel and customers.
- Partner with propulsion, air vehicle, quality, manufacturing, and supplier teams to drive permanent corrective actions and reliability improvements.
- Capture recurring fleet issues and translate them into engineering recommendations, service actions, and long-term design improvements.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related discipline.
- 6+ years of experience in aircraft, rotorcraft, unmanned aircraft system, or propulsion engineering.
- Strong hands-on experience with engine systems, fuel systems, oil systems, thermal behavior, vibration, and mechanical root-cause analysis.
- Experience troubleshooting fielded hardware and working from ambiguous or incomplete failure reports.
- Ability to analyze technical data from flight, test, maintenance, and inspection activities.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills in cross-functional and customer-facing environments.
Nice-to-Haves
- Experience with heavy-fuel or small-aircraft propulsion systems.
- Experience supporting deployed, expeditionary, or maritime systems.
- Experience with corrective action processes, reliability improvement, or supplier-quality coordination.
- Comfort working in fast-paced field environments and supporting customer-site troubleshooting.
Skills
Propulsion Engineering, Engine Systems Troubleshooting, Fuel Systems, Oil Systems, Vibration Analysis, Thermal Management, Root Cause Analysis, Flight Data Analysis, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering
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