Lead Propellant Manager

About the role

The Lead Propellant Manager will oversee the development, qualification, scale-up, and productionisation of solid propellants for propulsion systems. This senior, hands-on role involves providing technical direction across formulation, processing, and material qualification while collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver high-performing propulsion hardware. The role is designed for an expert in energetic materials who can drive technical capability and ensure safe, repeatable manufacturing processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead propellant development from formulation and laboratory trials through characterisation, scale-up, qualification, and production readiness.
• Set technical direction for propellant chemistry, processing, material selection, performance, ageing, and compatibility.
• Establish and improve procedures for safe, repeatable propellant manufacture, handling, testing, and storage.
• Lead investigations into formulation issues, non-conformances, unexpected results, process variation, and material compatibility.
• Coordinate propellant activities across propulsion engineering, manufacturing, test, quality, procurement, and suppliers.
• Build the team’s technical capability through mentoring, documentation, process improvement, and the development of robust engineering methods.

Required skills

• Propulsion
• Solid propellant development
• Energetic materials
• Chemical processing
• Propellant formulation
• Experimental design

Nice to have

• Binders
• Oxidisers
• Metallic fuels
• Catalysts
• Burn-rate measurement
• Thermal analysis
• Rheology
• Mechanical testing
• Python
• Quality systems

Qualifications

• Degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, polymer science, energetic materials, or a related discipline

Benefits

• Relocation support
• Daily meals
• Shared company housing
• Stock options

About the Company

We are a Germany-based rocketry startup currently in stealth mode, scaling up rapidly to meet the demand for high-performance, reliable, and scalable solid propulsion technologies for space and defense applications. We are already launching suborbital and ballistic rockets on a regular basis and are applying our knowledge toward the development of an orbital rocket.