About the role
Canada Rocket Company is building a sovereign launch capability for Canada. We're looking for a Head of Propulsion Systems to build and lead the team responsible for the propulsion and fluid systems on the vehicle. This is both a leadership and technical role. As a demonstrated leader, strategic manager, technically proficient engineer you will guide the team through design, development, operation, and reuse of propulsion and stage fluid systems.
What you'll do
- Steer the technical direction and architecture for propulsion and vehicle fluid systems.
- Drive development, qualification, production, flight, and reuse of propulsion and vehicle fluid systems.
- Manage propulsion and fluid systems’ schedule, budget, resources, risk, design reviews, as well as suppliers and subcontractors.
- Plan, coordinate, and oversee concurrent propulsion subsystem programs.
- Build, lead, and mentor an exceptional multidisciplinary team consisting of systems engineers, combustion devices engineers, turbomachinery engineers, components engineers, thermal analysts, fluid analysts, structural analysts, and more.
- Instill a culture of extreme ownership and efficient actions.
- Coordinating efforts spanning departments.
- Interfacing with customers, launch operators, or government agencies (e.g., FAA, NASA, DoD) on propulsion certification.
Qualifications
- 10+ years of experience in design, analysis, development, qualification, and operation of liquid bipropellant rocket engines with appreciable durations both as an individual contributor and leader.
- Proven ability to build and lead engineering teams, including hiring, mentoring, and establishing processes from an early stage.
- Inclination toward a fast-paced, resource-constrained, environment with rapid hardware development using iterative design-build-test cycles that are central to the engineering culture.
- Experience with sizing, material selection, fabrication processes, and developing injectors, chambers, and or nozzles.
- Awareness of basic turbomachinery configurations, operations, and performance parameters.
- Analyze or trade propulsion elements using first order thermodynamic, fluid mechanics, and structural mechanics analyses.
- Proficiency designing, analyzing, and interpreting complex fluid systems as well as understanding the behaviour of the mechanisms in those systems.
- Experience sizing and using components such as solenoid / pneumatic / hydraulic valves, regulators, check valves, relief valves, filters, pressure transducers, thermocouples, flow meters, etc
- Experience sizing and using plumbing parts including tubing, piping, flanges, gaskets, o-rings, fittings, etc.
- Proficiency applying first principles to identify solutions not traditionally considered.
- Issue identification, diagnosis, and resolution including Failure Mode, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA), Fault Tree Analysis, and Fishbone analysis.
- Experience preparing for and participating in test and or flight campaigns.
- Hazardous operations (HAZOP) planning and safety culture leadership.
- Functional proficiency in Visio, CAD, and Python.
- Familiarity with CGP, EIPA, ITAR, etc regulations.
- Stakeholder reporting to senior leadership and customers.
- Proposal writing and business development exposure.
About Canada Rocket Company
Canada Rocket Company is developing Canada's first medium-lift launch vehicle.
We are a team of veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, ArianeGroup, Pangea Propulsion, Tesla, MDA, and more, bringing over a century of combined launch and space systems experience back to Canada.
Our mission is to provide reliable, independent access to space for Canada and its allies in a rapidly expanding global market.
Our approach is defined by pragmatic engineering:
- We utilize a single 750 kN engine that scales from light- to medium-lift via engine clustering.
- We lean on simple, proven technologies to reach orbit faster, avoiding the pitfalls of complex or novel designs.
- We test early and often, catching problems on the bench instead of at the pad.
Backed by over $20M in funding secured within our first four months, including the largest all-Canadian seed round in the sector and an $8.3M Department of National Defence grant, we are moving with the speed and institutional backing required to meet Canada’s orbital launch needs.