Senior Performance Engineer

Job Summary

Join our Fitchburg, MA team as an experienced engineer supporting the performance, flow path, and thermal-fluid design considerations of steam turbines and related turbomachinery. This role blends thermodynamic and aerodynamic engineering responsibilities into a single performance-focused position responsible for evaluating energy distribution, flow behavior, efficiency, and overall turbine performance.

The engineer in this role will provide direct contributor work in analysis, design development, and problem resolution while partnering across mechanical, structural, acoustic, and systems disciplines. Depending on level, this position may also provide technical leadership, mentor junior engineers, and independently lead focused analysis efforts or trade studies.

What You Will Do

• Perform thermodynamic and aerodynamic analyses to support the design, evaluation, and optimization of steam turbine flow paths and associated components.
• Assess turbine performance through a combination of 0D, 1D, 2D, CFD, and related engineering analysis methods using commercial tools, internal methods, or equivalent developed approaches.
• Support or lead investigations into flow, pressure, temperature, loss, leakage, and energy distribution issues within turbine systems.
• Contribute to the design and evaluation of turbine flow path features including nozzles, buckets, valves, inlet flow passages, seals, packing, exhaust plenums, and related hardware as applicable.
• Develop and execute trade studies that balance performance goals with mechanical, structural, acoustic, manufacturability, and program requirements.
• Shape or evaluate overall steam path architecture to enable stable flow behavior and efficient energy conversion.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate thermo-aerodynamic design considerations into broader product development efforts.
• Prepare and present technical analyses, recommendations, and status updates to engineering leadership and program stakeholders.
• At higher levels, provide technical guidance, mentor earlier career engineers, and independently drive focused work scopes to closure.

Education & Experience Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, or related technical field with progressively responsible relevant experience; typical target range is Senior through Senior Principal.
• Strong experience in turbomachinery, steam turbines, gas turbines, rotating machinery, or related thermal-fluid performance applications.
• Experience in thermodynamic analysis, aerodynamic analysis, or integrated performance analysis of turbine or turbo machinery systems.
• Proficiency in compressible fluid flow, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and thermodynamics as applied to rotating machinery.
• Experience with performance modeling methods such as bulk flow, lumped parameter, meanline, throughflow, or related engineering analyses.
• Working knowledge of loss mechanisms, flow path shaping, leakage effects, and performance tradeoffs in turbine systems.
• Experience using commercial CFD and engineering analysis tools such as Ansys Fluent, CFX, TurboGrid, BladeModeler, or equivalent software.
• Ability to work effectively across multiple engineering disciplines and make sound engineering tradeoffs in a complex product environment.

Secondary Skills, Experience, and Aptitude to Grow

• Experience with steam as a working fluid and performance considerations specific to steam turbine systems.
• Experience evaluating seals, packing, exhaust hoods, valves, or auxiliary flow applications in rotating machinery.
• Experience with parameterized models, design studies, optimization methods, or thermal-fluid interaction analyses.
• Exposure to Navy Nuclear applications, defense industry product lines, or highly regulated engineering environments.
• Ability to independently lead technical tasks and contribute to planning, estimation, and execution of analysis work packages.