Multi-Physics Engineering Team Lead

About Exotrail

Born from a strong ambition to reach for the stars, Exotrail is a fast-growing scale-up founded in 2017. Its mission: to develop and commercialise propulsion systems for small satellites on a global scale.

We design products focused on impact, fast delivery, and continuous improvement. Inspired by the digital world, we are firmly customer-oriented and driven by an entrepreneurial spirit.

We manage risks to push boundaries and achieve results that would not be possible within a traditional space model.

We deploy every necessary resource to support the development of our products, whether in propulsion or in-orbit services. Strengthened by an innovative mindset inherited from our early days, we are preparing to grow into an ambitious industrial company.

Job Description

We are looking for a Multi-Physics Engineering Team Lead at our Massy site, to support the rapid growth.

Attached to the Spaceware Engineering Team, you will be responsible for leading the technical, operational, and people management activities of the Simulation team. The role ensures the quality, robustness, and consistency of simulation activities supporting product development and qualification throughout the engineering lifecycle.

The position oversees three multidisciplinary simulation teams:

• Structural Simulation

• Thermal Simulation

• Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

This role will be interacting with a variety of internal and external stakeholders.

Main responsibilities:

Team Management

Lead, coach, and develop the team. You may also participate in recruiting future team members.

Set objectives, conduct performance reviews, and support career development.

Foster technical excellence, collaboration between the teams, continuous improvement, innovation, and the sharing of knowledge.

Oversee team activities

Define team priorities based on project needs and development milestones

Ensure on-time, high-quality delivery of simulation activities within resource constraints.

Allocate resources and manage competing priorities across projects.

Technical Leadership

Ensure the quality, robustness and traceability of simulation results.

Review and approve simulation methodologies and critical analyses.

Promote Verification & Validation (V&V) and simulation/test correlation.

Support engineering teams during design reviews and technical decision-making.

Simulation Strategy

Drive improvements in simulation methods, automation and standardisation.

Develop multi-physics simulation capabilities across Structures, Thermal and CFD.

Evaluate and deploy new simulation tools and best practices.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Partner with Engineering, Systems, Design, Test, Industrialisation, Quality and Project Management teams, and represent the simulation organisation with customers and external partners when required.

Preferred Experience

Master's degree or PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering, Fluid Mechanics, Computational Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related field.

8-12+ years experience in numerical simulation.

Proven experience managing technical engineering teams.

Experience in a complex industrial environment.

Strong expertise in either Structural Analysis (FEA); Thermal Simulation; CFD. Expertise across all three domains is not required. The ability to lead multidisciplinary experts and understand cross-domain interactions is essential.

Technical Skills Required

Deep understanding of Numerical simulation (FEA/FVM); Verification & Validation (V&V); Simulation-to-test correlation; Multi-physics simulation principles

Experience with one of several of the following tools: Abaqus; ANSYS (Fluent, Mechanical); Nastran; COMSOL; Siemens Simcenter or others.

Soft Skills Required

Team leadership & development & decision making.

Clear communication both verbal and written.

Analytical, & result-oriented.

High degree of autonomy

This job description is designed for a senior management role, where the primary responsibility is to lead an organisation of experts rather than to be the technical expert in each of the disciplines. Expertise in just one of the three fields (structures, thermal or fluid dynamics) is considered sufficient, provided the candidate can demonstrate a strong ability to lead multidisciplinary teams, understand the interfaces between the various physical disciplines and ensure the overall quality of numerical simulation activities.

About our recruitment process

We are committed to recruiting the right people for the right job regardless of your private background.

We meet at least three times in order to give you a better idea of what it's like to work at Exotrail:

1. Interview with our Talent Acquisition Manager: you will learn more about the position and our culture

2. Technical Interview with someone from the team: you will discover your work environment and learn more about the required qualifications

3. On-site interview with your future manager: to delve deeper into the position and expectations.

• Interview with the N+2 : you can make sure that you share the same vision and values of the company