Darwin Space are working with a European launch vehicle company who are looking for a Propulsion Team Manager to oversee the day-to-day activities, coordination and development of their propulsion team.
This is a management-focused position, combining an understanding of propulsion engineering with responsibility for team leadership, project coordination and programme delivery. You’ll be responsible for organising the team’s activities, managing workloads and resources, coordinating development activities and ensuring priorities, deadlines and objectives are met.
Working closely with engineering leadership and wider programme teams, you’ll help drive the propulsion function forward, ensuring effective communication across departments and that engineering activities remain aligned with the wider launch vehicle programme.
You’ll be responsible for:
- Managing and developing the Propulsion team, including workload allocation, recruitment, mentoring and capability development
- Coordinating day-to-day engineering activities, ensuring priorities, responsibilities and deliverables are clearly defined
- Managing project plans, schedules, resources and budgets across propulsion development activities
- Monitoring progress against key milestones, identifying potential delays and taking action to keep activities on track
- Coordinating propulsion development, testing, verification and qualification activities
- Working closely with Systems Engineering, MAIT, Operations and Programme Management to ensure effective collaboration across departments
- Acting as the main point of coordination for the propulsion team, ensuring clear communication between engineers, management and other stakeholders
- Supporting resource planning and identifying where additional skills, personnel or external support may be required
- Managing technical and programme risks, escalating issues where necessary and helping develop solutions
- Supporting supplier coordination, procurement activities and the management of external engineering partners
- Ensuring engineering processes, documentation, quality standards and configuration management activities are maintained
- Reporting on team progress, programme status, resource requirements and delivery risks to senior management
What we’re looking for
You’ll ideally have around 7-8 years of engineering experience within propulsion or fluid systems, with a background in Space, Aerospace or Defence. Alongside your technical experience, you’ll need at least 2 years of experience managing, leading or coordinating engineering teams or projects.
We’re particularly interested in someone who has developed beyond a purely technical engineering role and has experience taking responsibility for people, project delivery, planning and coordination. You should understand the challenges involved in developing propulsion systems and be comfortable managing the activities of engineers working across different technical disciplines.
You’ll also need:
- A degree in Engineering, ideally specialising in Propulsion Systems, Fluid Systems or a related discipline
- Previous experience managing or coordinating engineering teams, projects or technical workstreams
- Experience with project planning, scheduling, budgets and resource management
- An understanding of propulsion development, testing and qualification processes
- Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities
- The ability to coordinate multiple stakeholders and drive activities towards agreed deadlines
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with C1-level English
A note on location
This is an on-site position in France. Candidates already based locally are welcome, and relocation support is available for those looking to move for the role.
For candidates relocating from outside the region, previous space propulsion experience is essential.
This is a great opportunity for an experienced propulsion engineer who has moved into team leadership, project management or engineering coordination and is looking to take on a broader management role within a growing launch vehicle programme.
Darwin Recruitment is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.
Alfie Walters