CFD Analyst III

Application close date:

Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the requisition is closed.

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!

This role is part of the Blue Origin Engines business unit, where our focus is the design, development, manufacturing, and testing of engines and propulsion systems. Built for multiple uses, our family of engines is powering the next generation of rockets for commercial, civil, national security, and human spaceflight.

As part of a hardworking team of engineers, you will design, analyze, and optimize complex engine components, assemblies and systems. As an experienced practitioner in CFD, you will be responsible for developing high-fidelity computational models to predict thermal environments and structural loading in combustion systems and turbo machinery. Your analyses will directly inform thermal and structural design decisions, boundary condition derivation, and component life assessments across the engine operating envelope.

You will collaborate closely with thermal analysts, structural analysts, and systems engineers to ensure integrated and consistent predictions across the engine. Relying on your fundamentals in fluid mechanics and heat transfer you will anchor CFD models to test data and make recommendations for updated instrumentation on subsequent test campaigns.

Special Mentions Relocation provided

Travel expected up to 10% of the time Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Develop, execute, and maintain CFD models to predict thermal environments, heat flux distributions, and structural loading for combustion devices and turbo machinery components

Generate high-fidelity predictions of flow fields, temperature distributions, and thermal gradients to support component design and life assessments across steady-state and transient operating conditions

Derive CFD-based thermal and pressure boundary conditions for use by thermal and structural finite element analysis (FEA) teams

Collaborate with thermal analysts using tools such as ANSYS Mechanical/Classic and Thermal Desktop to ensure consistent and integrated thermal state predictions

Collaborate with structural analysts to ensure CFD-derived thermal loads are accurately translated into structural models and support failure mode evaluations including strength, fatigue, and creep

Anchor CFD model predictions to engine and component test data; identify discrepancies and drive model improvements

Support test plan development to verify thermal requirements and generate data necessary to establish confidence in design solutions

Perform trade studies using CFD to optimize cooling designs, combustion efficiency, and turbo machinery flow path performance

Develop and improve CFD process automation tools for mesh generation, boundary condition setup, post-processing, and report generation

Advocate for methods and best practices that will improve component analysis performance and reliability

Provide technical mentorship to less experienced engineers and perform peer review of CFD analyses across Blue Origin's active engine programs

Minimum Qualifications B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related engineering discipline

Minimum of 5 years of industry experience performing CFD analysis in support of combustion systems, turbo machinery, or related engine systems

Demonstrated proficiency with one or more commercial or open-source CFD codes (ANSYS Fluent, ANSYS CFX, Siemens Star-CCM+, OpenFOAM)
Solid understanding of fluid mechanics, heat transfer

Experience deriving and applying thermal and pressure boundary conditions for use in downstream finite element thermal and structural analyses

Familiarity with mesh generation tools and best practices for complex 3D geometries

Demonstrated experience using scripting or programming languages for pre/post-processing automation (Python, MATLAB, Fortran, VBA, or similar)
Good communication skills and proficiency with engineering productivity tools

Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Preferred Qualifications M.S. or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related discipline with a focus on thermal/fluid sciences or computational methods

Experience with conjugate heat transfer (CHT) simulations coupling fluid and solid thermal domains

Familiarity with analysis tools such as ANSYS Workbench or Thermal Desktop to support integrated modeling workflows using CFD-derived loads

Experience with reacting flow or combustion CFD modeling (e.g., premixed/non-premixed combustion, species transport)

Experience with turbo machinery flow path analysis, including…