Director of Propulsion
Department: Engineering
Reports To: Vice President of Engineering
Location: Frisco, Texas
Employment Type: Full-Time, On-Site
Travel: As Required
Position Summary
The Director of Propulsion is responsible for leading the design, development, integration, testing, and maturation of Avrex Aerospace's propulsion systems across its aircraft platforms. The position has primary technical responsibility for the Company's Hybrid Electric Propulsion System (HEPS), including electric propulsion motors, power electronics, and the internal combustion engine (ICE) generator subsystem.
The Director of Propulsion owns propulsion system performance, reliability, efficiency, and integration readiness from initial development through ground testing, flight testing, and operational deployment.
Key Responsibilities
Propulsion & HEPS Leadership
Lead development and integration of the complete Hybrid Electric Propulsion System.
Own propulsion system architecture, requirements, interfaces, and performance.
Lead integration of electric motors, motor controllers/inverters, power electronics, ICE generator systems, fuel systems, power distribution, and thermal management.
Ensure propulsion architecture meets aircraft endurance, performance, reliability, and mission requirements.
Electric Propulsion Systems
Lead electric motor selection, sizing, configuration, and optimization.
Define required torque, RPM, power, and thermal operating envelopes.
Optimize motor and propeller matching for aircraft performance and efficiency.
Oversee ESC/inverter integration, EMI mitigation, structural mounting, and vibration isolation.
Validate propulsion performance through modeling, bench testing, and flight-test data.
ICE Generator Systems
Lead development and integration of the ICE-driven generator subsystem.
Oversee engine selection, configuration, and derating strategies.
Develop generator coupling, load management, cooling, exhaust, fuel delivery, and thermal-management solutions.
Optimize fuel consumption and continuous power generation for mission endurance.
Establish reliability and maintenance requirements for the generator system.
Power Management & System Efficiency
Maintain and validate aircraft propulsion power budgets.
Analyze aircraft electrical loads and transient power requirements.
Develop battery-buffer and generator-to-bus management strategies.
Optimize overall propulsion efficiency across anticipated mission profiles.
Reconcile modeled system performance with ground and flight-test results.
Test, Integration & Flight Support
Develop propulsion-specific ground and flight-test plans.
Lead dynamometer, bench, hardware-in-the-loop, and integrated propulsion testing.
Participate in flight-test readiness reviews.
Analyze propulsion telemetry and system performance.
Lead root-cause investigations and corrective actions for propulsion anomalies.
Ensure propulsion configurations are properly validated before flight release.
Reliability & Lifecycle Management
Lead propulsion FMEA and reliability-growth activities.
Establish component-life tracking and maintenance intervals.
Develop spare-parts and sustainment requirements.
Improve maintainability and field-serviceability of propulsion systems.
Ensure systems are designed for sustained operational use rather than prototype-only performance.
Cross-Functional Integration
Coordinate closely with Airframe & Structures, Avionics & Controls, Integration & Flight Test, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Flight Operations.
Ensure propulsion systems remain compatible with aircraft CG, structural, cooling, electrical, and maintenance requirements.
Support design reviews and aircraft configuration decisions affecting propulsion.
Configuration & Documentation
Maintain propulsion system configuration baselines.
Control engine, motor, generator, wiring, and software-integration revisions.
Ensure engineering changes are documented, reviewed, tested, and validated prior to release.
Maintain technical documentation necessary to support manufacturing, flight operations, maintenance, and future aircraft development.
Qualifications
Demonstrated experience developing or integrating aircraft propulsion, hybrid-electric propulsion, electric propulsion, ICE-generator systems, or closely related aerospace systems.
Strong understanding of electric motors, power electronics, generators, batteries, fuel systems, and thermal management.
Experience with propulsion ground testing, instrumentation, data analysis, and flight-test support.
Ability to troubleshoot complex electromechanical systems and lead root-cause investigations.
Experience working across engineering, manufacturing, flight test, and operations organizations.
Strong technical leadership and configuration-management discipline.
Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced aerospace development environment.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
Experience developing hybrid-electric aircraft propulsion systems.
Experience taking propulsion systems from prototype through flight qualification and production.
Familiarity with FMEA, reliability-growth testing, HIL testing, and aerospace configuration-control processes.
Experience supporting aircraft manufacturing and field operations.
Success in This Role
Success will be measured by the delivery of reliable, efficient, flight-ready propulsion systems that meet aircraft performance and endurance requirements while remaining manufacturable, maintainable, and scalable for operational deployment.