The Role

Mach Industries is seeking a Senior Aerospace Engineer, Aerothermal & Hypersonics to own high-speed aerodynamic and aerothermal design for next-generation hypersonic and atmospheric entry systems. This role is for an engineer with 5–7+ years of experience who has taken complex aerospace work from concept through design, analysis, test, and implementation — and who can help stand up aerothermal and TPS test capability as the company scales.

You will lead hypersonic vehicle shaping and aero/aerothermal trades, predict aerodynamic heating and related high-temperature flight environments, and contribute to Thermal Protection System (TPS) / heat-shield evaluation in partnership with materials, structures, and Thermal Engineers. You will also support lower-speed aero work in conjunction with other aerodynamicists when programs require it.

Key Responsibilities

• High-speed aero and aerothermal design: Lead or co-own aerodynamic and aerothermal design activities for hypersonic and atmospheric entry vehicles — vehicle shaping, performance, stability, and thermal environment definition — and support lower-speed aero work in conjunction with other aerodynamicists when the program requires it.

• Aerothermal environments: Predict and analyze aerodynamic heating environments (convective and radiative where relevant), including engineering (first-order / closed-form) heating methods and higher-fidelity aerothermal analysis as needed to support vehicle, TPS, and structural design.

• TPS / heat-shield contribution: Develop and evaluate Thermal Protection System concepts, materials, architectures, and margins for hypersonic flight and atmospheric entry vehicles — including material selection support and thermal performance assessment — in close partnership with materials and structures.

• Trajectory-coupled environments: Perform or closely support entry, descent, and re-entry (and hypersonic mission) trajectory-informed aerothermal environment prediction and vehicle performance assessments.

• Multidisciplinary integration: Partner with structures, Thermal Engineers, propulsion, GNC, and systems engineering to close vehicle-level trades among aero, heating, TPS mass/thickness, and mission performance.

• Analysis, trades, and documentation: Build and maintain engineering models, run trade studies, and document assumptions, margins, and recommendations for design reviews across the product lifecycle.

• Test and validation (stand-up + execute): Help establish and then support ground aerothermal/TPS test approaches and flight-test planning, execution, data analysis, and post-flight validation — including correlation of predicted environments and TPS performance to test evidence.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.

• 5–7+ years of professional aerospace engineering experience.

• Demonstrated experience contributing to or leading a project from initial concept through implementation (design, analysis, test, and fielding or equivalent closure).

• Demonstrated experience in hypersonic aerodynamic design — vehicle shaping, aerodynamic performance optimization, and computational or experimental analysis for high-speed flight or atmospheric entry vehicles.

• Strong working understanding of:

• Hypersonic flight and atmospheric entry environments

• Aerodynamics for high-speed vehicles, with ability to support lower-speed aero alongside aero teammates

• Aerothermal analysis and aerodynamic heating (including engineering heating methods and high-temperature gas dynamics)

• TPS materials, architectures, and thermal performance evaluation (working fluency; deep heat-shield ownership is a plus)

• Experience with CFD, aerothermal, and aerodynamic analysis tools; familiarity with several of: STAR-CCM+, FUN3D, LociCHEM, US3D, CFD++, DATCOM, OpenVSP, MATLAB, and Python.

• Experience working in fast-paced, multidisciplinary engineering environments.

• Strong analytical, documentation, and communication skills; ability to mentor and provide technical leadership appropriate to a senior IC.

• Must be a U.S. person (U.S. citizen or permanent resident / as defined for export-control compliance).

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience designing and/or selecting Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) / heat shields for high-speed flight or atmospheric entry applications.

• Depth in heat-shield design: material selection, stack-up/architecture trades, recession/insulation performance, and margin definition against mission heating.

• Experience with both hypersonic atmospheric flight and atmospheric entry / re-entry aerothermal problems.

• Experience standing up or maturing ground test capability for aerothermal or TPS validation (e.g. arcjet, plasma, or equivalent high-enthalpy / material test pathways) and/or flight-test aerothermal instrumentation and post-flight reconstruction.

• Experience delivering aerothermal environments and TPS recommendations into structures and systems design reviews under schedule pressure.

• Familiarity with defense or dual-use high-speed vehicle development and production-minded design constraints.

• Advanced degree with thesis or professional focus in hypersonics, aerothermodynamics, or TPS.

Additional Requirements