Director of Structural & Thermal Engineering

Blue Canyon Technologies, RTX's small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider, is solving some of the toughest challenges in space. Our components and bus platforms have completed missions ranging from very-low Earth orbits to lunar and interplanetary journeys at a fraction of the cost of traditional space systems. We support premier defense, commercial and civil organizations including the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA, MIT Lincoln Lab, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Colorado and more. Join our innovative and dynamic company as we build, test and operate the small spacecraft of the future.

Position Purpose: The Director of Structural & Thermal Engineering is responsible for all Structural and Thermal Engineering staff management (people) and BCT company-wide Structural & Thermal Engineering & Analysis process and tools. 

Title: Director of Structural & Thermal Engineering  

Position Type: Full Time

Pay Range: $180,000 - $290,000

(Salary to be determined by the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data.)

On-site position at our Lafayette, CO location (work locations are subject to change based on business need).

Benefits:

• Employer sponsored health, dental, and vision benefits effective the first of the month following hire date
• Life insurance
• 401k (matching 4% with a minimum 5% contribution)
• Generous PTO (4 weeks of vacation 3 floating holidays, 2 weeks of sick time, 7 paid holidays throughout the year) and parental leave

Job Responsibilities: 

• Team Leadership – Lead a team of talented and capable Structural engineers and Thermal engineers. Promote a culture of excellence, integrity, and respect within the Team and across the wider functional engineering team. Manage employee performance planning, goal setting and feedback conversations. Be the primary advocate for individuals as well as the Structures & Thermal Team.  

• Technical Leadership – Act as a technical leader within the areas of Structural & Thermal Analysis, Finite Element, Space Environments and Launch Vehicle loads & environments. Facilitate and participate in design reviews, including at the component level to sub-system and system level. Swiftly lead the team through resolution of complex technical matters, balancing business needs with quality, and be a core participant in Change Review Boards and Failure Review Boards, as necessary.  Be the leader who owns technical issues and works with the technical team to bring problems to resolution. 

• Product Leadership – Ensure top-notch and timely technical execution of all Structural and Thermal engineering tasks across BCT programs and product lines. Work to properly staff all Structural & Thermal engineering needs while protecting the team from risk of excessive workload. Participate in new business initiative activities by supporting development of detailed estimates (tasks & hours). Lead Structural & Thermal Engineering in product and program planning activities, and support design reviews (SRR/PDR/CDR/MRR/TRR). Work in unison with program and product leaders across BCT, by providing technical support for product line decision making. 

• Design Process Development – Monitor Structural & Thermal engineering and analysis processes for effectiveness, while considering the team’s capabilities, failure trends and business needs. Modify existing processes or develop new processes that enable quality technical outputs and achievable cost/schedule targets, thus ensuring the continued success of BCT’s products. 

• Establish and maintain high quality relationships, based on trust and professionalism, within the Structures & Thermal Team and cross-functional peers. 

• Act as the customer POC for Structural & Thermal engineering interactions with customers (may be delegated with supervision); be the escalation path for customers on Structural & Thermal issues. 

• Forecast operating costs of the department and prepare and ensure the team is meeting department overhead budget. 

• Interpret company policies to workers and enforce safety regulations. 

• Other responsibilities as assigned 

Required Qualifications/Education: 

• 15 or more years of experience designing/developing/analyzing spacecraft structures or thermal systems with progressive (year over year) complexity. 

• Seven (7) or more years of proven technical and functional leadership, with history of progressive leadership experience (from Lead to Manager or Senior Manager of Engineering, etc.) 

• A bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Science is required (advanced degree preferred) 

• An advanced knowledge and detailed design experience of complex space systems is required. 

• Expertise in one or more areas of Structural or Thermal engineering: Finite Element Analysis, Launch environments, Thermal Desktop, TD Direct, SolidWorks etc. 

• An understanding of the key relationships between Structural or Thermal engineering and all other elements of the systems to which they interface; a system engineering exposure or background is a plus. 

• Strong sense of team building/leadership based on respect, integrity, and ethics. 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. 

• Related technical experience may be considered in lieu of education. 

Working Conditions:

This job operates in a professional office environment, but in a manufacturing company. This role uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, scanners, filing cabinets and fax machines. BCT anticipates the application window closing approximately 40 days from the date the notice was posted.  However, factors such as candidate flow and business necessity may require BCT to shorten or extend the application window.

Physical Demands and Work Environment:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit for long periods of time. The employee is occasionally required to stand, bend, reach, and walk. The position requires some light physical effort. This would require the ability to lift or move objects up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift or move objects up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities are required by this job which includes close vision, distance vision, and ability to adjust focus.

Blue Canyon Technologies is a drug-free workplace and an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other protected factor. Colorado Residents:  In any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation.  You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.  Blue Canyon Technologies is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request a reasonable accommodation, contact Melissa Po at HR@bluecanyontech.com.