Propulsion GSE Team Leader

About the role

The Exploration Company is seeking an experienced Propulsion Ground Support Equipment Team Leader to oversee the development, commissioning, and operation of engine test benches for cryogenic engines and storable thrusters. This leadership role manages the end-to-end lifecycle of critical ground infrastructure, ensuring high-reliability test bench performance while maintaining strict safety standards in hazardous environments. The successful candidate will lead a cross-functional team to support ambitious program cadences for the development of the Nyx orbital vehicle.

Responsibilities

• Lead the engineering development of new test facility GSE, including high-pressure gas distribution systems, propellant feed systems, electrical network, control and data acquisition system, and mechanical structures.
• Translate test matrix requirements into hardware specifications, master P&IDs, and fluid system architectures.
• Manage a cross-functional team of mechanical, fluid, and instrumentation engineers and technicians.
• Direct resource allocation across multiple test benches, manage development schedules, and ensure alignment between propulsion design teams and facility operations.
• Oversee the structural fabrication, tube bending, welding, and mechanical assembly of GSE lines, panels, and thrust measurement structures.
• Lead high-pressure proof testing, leak checks, and system commissioning/decommissioning phases.
• Establish protocols for handling hazardous fluids and enforce strict compliance with oxygen compatibility, system passivation, and precision cleanliness levels.
• Author structural and fluid safety calculations, hazard analyses, and standard operating procedures.

Required skills

• Rocket propulsion testing
• Fluid systems engineering
• P&IDs
• Industrial fluid component selection
• 3D CAD
• Fluid simulation
• Precision cleaning
• Risk assessment
• English

Nice to have

• NX
• CATIA
• SolidWorks

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Chemical Engineering
• Equivalent technical experience with a proven track record in complex fluid systems engineering

Benefits

• Relocation assistance
• Visa sponsorship

About the Company

The Exploration Company is building innovative aerospace technologies that advance the future of space transportation. They are developing, producing, and operating Nyx, a modular and reusable space orbital vehicle that can be refueled in orbit.