Plume CFD Analyst

At Blue Origin, we envision millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. We’re working to develop reusable, safe, and low-cost space vehicles and systems within a culture of safety, collaboration, and inclusion. Join our team of problem solvers as we add new chapters to the history of spaceflight!

We are looking for a Senior Fluids Systems Engineer to join the Plume Analysis team supporting the MK2 Crewed Lunar Lander. The primary focus of this role is simulation of the flow environment around the vehicle across two distinct physical regimes: rarefied gas dynamics for far-field plume environments, and fluid-particle interaction in specific situations such as plume impingement during proximity and landing operations.

The engineer will work across the full analysis lifecycle - from coordinating requirements with design teams through preprocessing, simulation, post-processing, and delivery of results.

You will work directly with NASA and our National Team Partners as part of the Human Landing System (HLS) program. Your analyses will directly inform thermal, structures, GNC, and EVA design decisions for a crewed lunar lander, and you will serve as a key technical interface between the Plume Analysis group and multiple internal and external customer teams.

• Coordinate with thermal, structures, GNC, EVA, and propulsion design teams to understand analysis requirements and translate them into simulation tasks
• Develop analysis approaches for plume flowfield characterization, surface impingement heat flux, and pressure loads across continuum and rarefied flow regimes
• Execute the full analysis pipeline: CAD preparation and defeaturing, mesh generation, CFD/DSMC simulation, post-processing, and results delivery
• Perform 2D axisymmetric and 3D CFD simulations of rocket nozzle and plume flow fields using research-grade solvers on HPC and cloud infrastructure
• Perform rarefied gas dynamics (DSMC) analysis for far-field plume environments and surface impingement heating
• Develop Python-based post-processing and analysis pipelines for heat flux, pressure, contamination transport, and ejecta distributions
• Deliver surface heat flux and pressure boundary conditions to design teams via Boundary Condition Mapper (BCM) and formal reports
• Support active NASA collaborations with ongoing technical deliverables and meeting participation
• Document analyses in formal reports conforming to NASA HLS DRD standards

• M.S. or Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field preferred; B.S. considered with commensurate experience
• 5-10 years of experience in space vehicle, launch vehicle, or high-altitude flow modeling and simulation
• Experience with the full CFD analysis process: geometry preparation, meshing, solver execution, and post-processing
• Understanding of compressible fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and thermodynamics in rocket propulsion and vacuum plume expansion environments
• Experience with rarefied flow modeling and fundamental understanding of related concepts:
  Knudsen number, continuum breakdown, DSMC or DSMC-adjacent methods, mean free path, and transition-regime flow
• Proficiency with Python for scientific computing and post-processing

• Experience with plume-surface interactions (PSI), fluid-particle interaction, and regolith ejecta modeling during lunar or planetary landing operations
• Experience with research-grade or custom CFD solvers (Loci/CHEM, DPLR, LAURA, US3D, or equivalent)
• Experience with DSMC tools (DAC, SPARTA, or equivalent)
• Experience with Large Eddy Simulation (LES) for acoustic environments, turbulent mixing, or other high-fidelity flow details
• Experience with CAD defeaturing and surface/volume meshing tools (Space Claim, ANSA, Pointwise, or equivalent)
• Experience submitting and managing large-scale jobs on HPC or cloud platforms
• Experience delivering analysis products to NASA programs under DRD or equivalent documentation requirements
• Familiarity with spacecraft propellant thermochemistry (MMH/MON-3, LOX/LH, or similar)

Base Pay Range for:

CA applicants is $ - $
CO applicants is $ - $
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