Secondary Air Lead

Secondary Air Lead

Our client is an innovative aerospace company developing next-generation propulsion systems for high-performance aviation and industrial energy applications. Working at the forefront of clean-sheet gas turbine development, they're building advanced propulsion hardware designed to push the limits of efficiency, performance, and reliability.

Following significant recent investment, they're expanding their propulsion organisation and are looking for experienced engineers who want to own critical engine systems from early concept through testing and certification.

The Opportunity

We're looking for a Secondary Air Lead to own the architecture, design, and development of the secondary air system for an advanced gas turbine engine.

This is a highly technical leadership role where you'll be responsible for developing engine cooling, sealing, and thermal management strategies while ensuring the secondary airflow system integrates seamlessly across the entire propulsion system. You'll work closely with aerodynamics, thermal, structures, mechanical design, and performance engineers to optimise engine durability, efficiency, and operability.

If you enjoy solving complex thermal-fluid challenges and influencing whole-engine performance from first principles, this is an opportunity to lead one of the most critical disciplines in modern gas turbine development.

What You'll Be Doing

• Lead the design and development of the engine's secondary air system and thermal management architecture
• Develop and maintain whole-engine secondary airflow network models
• Evaluate system performance and recommend design improvements through analytical modelling and simulation
• Integrate cooling, sealing, thermal management, and secondary airflow solutions across the propulsion system
• Work closely with aerodynamics, structures, mechanical design, and test teams throughout engine development
• Support multidisciplinary engineering toolchains and automated analysis workflows
• Participate in prototype development, engine testing, validation, and system integration activities

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related discipline
• Extensive experience developing secondary air systems for gas turbine engines
• Experience building and analysing whole-engine flow network models
• Knowledge of thermal management, engine cooling, sealing systems, and secondary airflow architectures
• Experience using flow network software such as Altair Flow Simulator, GE Flow Simulator, Thermal Desktop, or similar
• Strong understanding of engine-level system integration and multidisciplinary design
• Python or similar scripting experience is beneficial
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to lead technical discussions across multiple engineering disciplines

Nice to Have

• Technical ownership of secondary air or thermal management systems on a gas turbine programme
• Experience with engine cycle analysis tools such as NPSS or PyCycle
• Gas turbine or aerospace propulsion development experience
• Rig testing, engine testing, and data correlation experience
• Experience developing engineering tools and automated workflows
• Component-level design and analysis experience
• Knowledge of turbomachinery design software such as AxSTREAM or ADS
• Commercial engine certification experience
• Passion for working in a fast-paced, high-ownership engineering environment

What's on Offer

• Competitive base salary depending on experience
• Meaningful equity participation
• Relocation assistance
• Comprehensive benefits package
• Flexible PTO
• The opportunity to lead the development of one of the most critical systems within a clean-sheet gas turbine engine programme, working alongside a multidisciplinary propulsion team from concept through testing and certification.