Thermal Protection Engineer

You will own the thermal protection system that enables a reusable vehicle to fly, land, and return to service safely. Your work will connect aerothermal analysis and material testing with the practical realities of installation, inspection, repair, and refurbishment. You will establish standards the flight line can apply consistently while improving the speed and reliability of between-flight turnaround. If you enjoy solving demanding reentry problems both at the engineering workstation and on the shop floor, this role offers direct responsibility for vehicle reusability.

WORKSITE: Onsite in Titusville, Florida

WORK SCHEDULE: Full-time; schedule based on program needs

PAY RATE: Salary determined based upon experience

• Paid sick leave based on state regulations after 90 days of employment
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage after a waiting period (60% paid by Fortuna)
• Free Tele Medicine and Mental Health support for all employees and their families.
• Additional voluntary benefits:
  Group Life Insurance, Accidental Insurance, Critical Care, Short-Term Disability

• Own thermal protection system design, analysis, material selection, integration, and refurbishment procedures across the airframe.
• Evaluate reentry heating environments and translate aerothermal loads into requirements for reusable tiles, seals, coatings, insulation, or ablative materials.
• Plan and execute arc-jet, thermal-cycle, and other qualification test campaigns for candidate materials and TPS assemblies.
• Analyze test and flight data, assess damage or degradation, investigate anomalies, and recommend design or process improvements.
• Define practical between-flight inspection, acceptance, repair, and return-to-service standards for technicians and line personnel.
• Partner with structures, aerodynamics, manufacturing, quality, test, and flight-operations teams to support vehicle qualification and rapid turnaround.

• At least five years of directly relevant experience with reentry thermal environments, thermal protection systems, high-temperature materials, or closely related aerospace systems.
• Hands-on experience with reusable or ablative TPS materials, including tiles, seals, coatings, insulation systems, bonding, installation, inspection, or repair.
• Experience with aerothermal or material-response analysis and validation through high-temperature testing; arc-jet or thermal-cycle test experience is strongly preferred.
• Ability to move effectively between analytical engineering work, test execution, manufacturing support, and shop-floor problem solving.
• Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical, materials, chemical engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent directly relevant experience.
• Ability to work onsite in Titusville, Florida, and communicate clear inspection and refurbishment requirements to both engineering and operations teams.