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Cowboy Space Corp. is building orbital infrastructure to power and connect the space economy. Founded in 2024 by Baiju Bhatt (Robinhood co-founder) and backed by leading investors, the company operates satellites in Low Earth Orbit for on-orbit compute, space-to-earth energy transmission via infrared lasers, and secure optical data delivery.
The Head of Analysis will build and lead the analysis organization within the Launch & Propulsion division, reporting to the Head of Launch & Propulsion. This role is the technical authority for all analytical substantiation of engines and vehicle structures, owning the methods, tools, standards, and team that produce structural, thermal, and fluid dynamics analyses underpinning every design decision and flight-readiness argument.
Key responsibilities include: defining the analysis philosophy (factors of safety, margin policy, model fidelity); developing analysis-versus-test strategy; building and leading a team of structural, thermal, and CFD analysts; leading structural analysis across engines and vehicle systems (static strength, fatigue, fracture, buckling, dynamics); leading thermal analysis for propulsion components and vehicle systems; leading CFD efforts for internal and external flow; developing and maintaining the analysis toolchain (ANSYS, Fluent, in-house solvers, AI/ML-augmented methods); establishing analysis documentation standards; owning correlation of analytical predictions with test and flight data; coordinating with design, test, manufacturing, and mission assurance teams; and presenting analysis substantiation at program milestones (PDR, CDR, TRR, FRR).
Required qualifications: Bachelor's in Aerospace, Mechanical, or related engineering; 10+ years in structural, thermal, or fluid dynamics analysis for aerospace/propulsion hardware with at least 5 years in technical leadership managing analysts; deep expertise in one analysis domain with strong working knowledge of the other two; proven ability to define analysis methodologies and margin policies for flight hardware; proficiency with ANSYS, Fluent, Star-CCM+, Nastran, Abaqus, Thermal Desktop, Sinda; experience onboarding analysis software and building automated workflows; track record building and scaling analysis teams; strong communication skills for design reviews and chief engineer engagement.
Preferred: Advanced degree (MS/PhD); direct experience analyzing rocket engines or propulsion components (combustion chambers, nozzles, turbopumps, injectors); experience with model correlation campaigns using test data; background developing in-house analysis tools.
