Junior Engine Control System & Monitoring Engineer

We are seeking a Junior Engine Control System & Monitoring Engineer to join the engine control and monitoring team of Storm, our high-thrust LOX/LCH4 cryogenic rocket engine. Working alongside senior control engineers, you will develop and test control and monitoring algorithms, work with the engine functional models provided by the functional team, contribute to setting up the controller development environment, and help verify the controller through Model-, Software- and Hardware-in-the-Loop testing and during engine test campaigns. This is an entry-level, hands-on role for a recent graduate with strong control fundamentals who wants to learn on real hardware and progressively grow into full ownership of safety-critical engine control functions.

Key Responsibilities In the area of Control & Monitoring Algorithm Development, you will design and implement engine control and monitoring algorithms following the software team's rules, guidelines, and auto-coding practices, while contributing to the definition of the engine regulation strategy regarding thrust and mixture ratio control, chill-down, start-up, and shutdown transients alongside functional and system engineers, and supporting the definition of control and monitoring requirements for engine subsystems including valves, pumps, sensors, controllers, and software. For Simulation & Controller Development Environment tasks, you will contribute to setting up the controller development environment encompassing the toolchain, model and code configuration management, auto-coding chain, and MiL/SiL/HiL simulation and test infrastructure. You will integrate engine functional models delivered by the functional team—such as turbopumps, valves, combustion devices, and cryogenic feed lines for steady-state, transient, and chill-down conditions—into the control design and simulation environment while deriving simplified or linearized models for controller synthesis where needed. Additionally, you will run closed-loop simulations to assess controller performance, stability margins, and robustness to model uncertainties, and feed test results back to the functional team to support model correlation and flag critical model limitations. Under Health Monitoring & Fault Management, you will contribute to the engine monitoring strategy assessing the health status of the engine and its subsystems, implement fault detection and sensor validation logic for real-time protection and post-test analysis, and support failure mode analyses (FMEA) and failure mode management to pave the way for engine reusability. Finally, for Validation, Testing & Documentation, you will prepare and run Model-, Software-, and Hardware-in-the-Loop test campaigns to verify control and monitoring functions from Simulink models to embedded code on target hardware, support Storm engine and component cryogenic test campaigns through preparation, on-site assistance, data processing, and post-test analysis, and produce clear development documentation including specifications, test procedures, test reports, and justification files.

What We Would Love to See from You Candidates should possess a Master's degree or equivalent in Aerospace, Electrical, Control, or Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical discipline. This is open to recent graduates graduating within the next months with no professional experience required, though a master's thesis, internship, or academic project in control, propulsion, or embedded systems serves as a strong plus. You should have solid fundamentals in control theory spanning both classical and modern approaches like state-space, robustness, and digital control, practical use of MATLAB/Simulink and Python through coursework or projects, basic knowledge of C/C++, a basic understanding of fluid dynamics and thermodynamics, a strong interest in cryogenic propulsion and turbomachinery, and fluency in English. Nice-to-have qualifications include exposure to MiL/SiL/HiL testing or real-time embedded systems, experience with auto-coding from Simulink models, familiarity with safety-critical design practices, reliability engineering, or failure mode analysis, interest or experience in data science applied to health monitoring and anomaly detection, knowledge of space standards such as ECSS, MIL-STD, or NASA-HBK, and proficiency in German and/or French.

Skills & Behaviours The role calls for an eagerness to learn and take on increasing ownership under senior guidance, strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to draw conclusions from partial or contradictory data, and clear oral and written communication to work closely with engine, avionics, software, and test teams. You must be organized, able to prioritize tasks, deliver within time constraints, maintain a positive and flexible attitude with enthusiasm for space exploration, and demonstrate behaviors consistent with The Exploration Company's core values of Mission, Vision, Integrity, Excellence, and Teamwork.

Why You Should Join Us! What makes us special here at The Exploration Company and why you will enjoy working here is that we are agile by making decisions fast while keeping our goals and systems in mind, we are open and collaborative by remaining transparent about risks and obstacles to cooperate and overcome them, and we have a lot of fun refuelling our energy knowing we are democratising space in a wonderful and rare opportunity. We would love to hear from you if you wish to be part of our journey, so please submit your CV now for immediate consideration so we can be in touch shortly. The Exploration Company is an equal opportunity employer valuing diversity without discrimination based on race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status. Relocation assistance and visa sponsorship where applicable are provided. All offers are contingent upon the successful completion of a background check conducted through our third-party provider, Zinc Work Limited, located in the UK.