Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) Engineer
Mclaurin AerospaceAre you passionate about human space exploration, understanding the origins of the universe, and working with a passionate and diverse team to make a difference? If you are, we need you!
We need your talent, teamwork, and energy to help us achieve great things that inspire people all over the globe. We need you to bring creative ideas and diverse backgrounds to help us envision, shape, and deliver systems that will enable the exploration of space while benefiting people here on Earth. We are excited about what we do, and we need you on our team as we take on exciting challenges for NASA's pursuits in deep space exploration.
We have an exciting opportunity for a Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) Engineer to join our JETS II contract team at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX.
If selected you will:
- Support the design, analysis, and verification of ablative, reusable, and multi-layer insulating TPS materials for spacecraft.
- Develop thermal models and perform transient/steady-state analyses to evaluate TPS performance across mission phases.
- Conduct material trade studies, risk identification, and mitigation planning.
- Support TPS subsystem requirements development, validation, and configuration management.
- Interface with structural, aerothermal, manufacturing, and systems engineering teams to integrate TPS solutions into the vehicle design.
- Review aerothermal environment predictions and translate loads into actionable TPS design criteria.
- Participate in fabrication process development, qualification testing, and non-destructive evaluation planning.
- Conduct laboratory and high-temperature testing of TPS materials in support of design, development, test and evaluation.
- Plan testing and analyze results from high enthalpy test facilities (arc jet, inductively coupled plasma (ICP) torch, etc.)
- Support anomaly investigations and root-cause analyses related to TPS performance.
- Prepare technical documentation including analysis reports, presentations, verification artifacts, and data packages.
Qualifications:
This position has been posted at multiple levels. Depending on the candidate's experience, requirements, and business needs, we reserve the right to consider candidates at any level for which this position has been advertised.
- Typically requires a minimum of a bachelor's degree in Engineering and normally possess 5- 10 years of related experience. License and certification may be required.
- Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field.
- Minimum of 5 years of engineering analysis experience related to thermal control systems.
- Experience with thermal modeling tools such as Thermal Desktop, SINDA/FLUINT, FEMAP, Abaqus, or equivalent.
- Demonstrated experience with spacecraft aerothermal environments, material characterization, and TPS design processes.
- Understanding of spacecraft certification, qualification, or verification/validation processes.
- Strong communication, documentation, and technical reasoning skills.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master's degree or PhD in a related engineering discipline.
- Experience with re-entry vehicles, launch vehicles, or commercial spaceflight programs.
- Knowledge of ablative materials, reusable TPS systems, composites, high-temperature ceramics, or insulation blankets.
- Understanding of TPS physics under high enthalpy flow (ablation, multi-phase equilibria, radiative transport).
- Experience with heat testing (arc-jet, plasma torch, furnace testing) and associated data reduction.
- Familiarity with CAD tools, structural analysis, or multidisciplinary integration workflows.
- Experience in leadership or technical oversight roles.
Benefits
- Competitive pay
- Positive work-life balance
- 100% Employer paid insurance including: Medical, dental, vision, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, short-term disability, and long-term disability
- 11 paid holidays annually
- Generous PTO
- 401k after 12 months of service with employer match
- Education assistance
- Relocation assistance (if applicable)
Mclaurin is a unique organization with a special focus on combining the best features of research and industry in order to foster innovation. Our organization strongly supports research, publication, and engagement with the academic community. We encourage our employees to remain on the cutting edge of new developments in their respective disciplines.
US Citizenship and the ability to pass a comprehensive security background investigation is required.
Mclaurin is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status or other characteristics protected by law.