Propulsion Analysis Engineer II

The future of aerospace and defense starts here. Ursa Major was founded to revolutionize how America and its allies access and apply high‑performance propulsion, from hypersonics to solid rocket motors, satellite maneuvering and launch. We design and deliver propulsion and defense systems that solve the most urgent and critical national security demands.

As a Propulsion Analysis Engineer II, you will primarily focus on structural analysis of vehicles and propulsion systems. You will be exposed to multiple vehicles, systems, and engines, along with the unique challenges each present. We are looking for analysts who bring new skills and best practices from their prior experience to Ursa and who, in time, will mentor others. You will be expected to support verification and validation efforts and to provide proactive feedback to our design team based on the results of your work.

Lastly, as Ursa ramps up its production rate and begins development on new engine platforms, you will be expected to assess nonconforming hardware, introduce approaches that could improve our team’s efficiency, and venture into additional analysis specialties to support others in our multi‑disciplinary analysis team. You will report to our Propulsion Analysis Team Lead. This role is available to work remotely within the US (with 10% travel to Colorado) or as a hybrid or on‑site role out of our Berthoud, Colorado office.

• You will evaluate our designs through static, dynamic, fatigue, and fracture analyses and provide recommendations when needed to achieve our objectives.
• You will support GFEM development for vehicles and propulsion systems.
• You will propagate loads to vehicle and engine components.
• You will perform coupled thermal‑stress analysis to assess material response under extreme conditions.
• You will verify and validate your models.
• You will work closely with our test team to request the instrumentation necessary to anchor our analytical models.
• You will perform loads development for vehicles and engine programs.
• You will collaborate with other engineering teams to develop our systems while ensuring they meet requirements and comply with the structural standards we follow.
• You will collaborate with our manufacturing team to assess nonconforming hardware for development and flight components and provide recommended dispositions and repairs.
• You will improve our analytical methods and seek out new approaches and tools.

• B.S. degree in mechanical, aerospace engineering, or a comparable field.
• 2+ years of professional experience performing structural analysis.
• Experience performing Finite Element Analysis (FEA / FEM) using commercial codes (e.g., ANSYS, Abaqus, or NASTRAN‑based solvers).
• High Cycle Fatigue Analysis (HCF, crack initiation predicted by a stress‑life / SN approach).
• A strong theoretical background in structural mechanics.
• Comfortable working in a fast‑paced, startup environment.

• M.S. degree or higher in Mechanical, Aerospace Engineering, or a comparable field, ideally focusing on solid mechanics, fatigue, fracture, or structural dynamics.
• Thermal‑Structural static analysis (particularly dealing with nonlinear materials and large strains).
• GFEM development and model grounding experience.
• Dynamic analysis methods (modal, random vibration, shock response).
• Working experience in loads development.
• Low Cycle Fatigue Analysis (LCF, crack initiation predicted by a strain‑life / e‑N approach).
• Fracture analysis (crack growth / safe‑life and assessing for instability via LEFM, ideally with prior experience using NASGRO).
• A strong theoretical background in heat transfer, fluid mechanics, and/or compressible flow.
• Experience with the ANSYS FEA suite.
• Experience with Femap/Nastran.
• Experience anchoring analytical models to physical testing.
• Knowledge of turbo machinery‑related analytical methods (e.g., generating Campbell diagrams to assess margins on rotor dynamics or structural modes or rotating hardware).
• Prior professional experience working on either rocketry or turbo machinery.
• Experience supporting failure investigations and root‑cause analysis.
• A track record of…