Senior CFD Engineer

About us

PhysicsX is a deep-tech company with roots in numerical physics and Formula One, dedicated to accelerating hardware innovation at the speed of software. We are building an AI-driven simulation software stack for engineering and manufacturing across advanced industries. By enabling high-fidelity, multi-physics simulation through AI inference across the entire engineering lifecycle, PhysicsX unlocks new levels of optimization and automation in design, manufacturing, and operations — empowering engineers to push the boundaries of possibility. Our customers include leading innovators in Aerospace & Defense, Materials, Energy, Semiconductors, and Automotive.

Who We’re Looking For

As a Senior CFD Engineer with deep expertise in Turbomachinery, you are a problem solver and a builder, who is passionate about creating practical solutions that enable customers to make better engineering decisions. Your focus will be on delivering accurate, insight-driven CFD analyses to support design, optimization, and performance improvement of rotating machinery. You excel at working directly with customers (often directly on-site) to build CAE models that are integrated into AI-tools that are both useful and used. You bring deep expertise in fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and turbulence modeling, with a solid ability to apply fundamental knowledge to real-world phenomena across a wide range of engineering applications. With 3-5 years of industry experience (post Masters or PhD) in a commercial, non-research environment, you’re ready to hit the ground running. You’re confident setting up CFD simulations independently, interpreting complex results with depth, and making informed decisions based on solid engineering judgement.

Note: Due to the nature of our aerospace and defense work, this position is open to US citizens only.

This Role

In this role, you’ll work closely with our Data Scientists, Machine Learning Engineers, and customers to understand and define the engineering challenges we are solving. You’ll play a crucial role in delivering meaningful results by:

• Leading the design of turbomachinery components on jet engines, including axial and centrifugal compressors from concept through detailed design that balance aerodynamic efficiency, operability, and mechanical constraints.
• Developing and execute coupled aero-thermal, aero-acoustic, and aero-mechanical CFD simulations for airfoil and flowpath geometry optimisation.
• Building robust parametric CAD models of turbomachinery blades (e.g. NX, Ansys Bladegen) coupled with simulation pipeline automation.
• Highly proficient in at least one of Star-CCM+, ANSYS Fluent/CFX, or Numeca FINE™ and adept at automating these tools to create reusable workflows for design optimization and DoE studies using MDO tools (e.g., modeFRONTIER/ESTECO, Siemens HEEDS) via APIs or scripting
• Strong expertise in meshing of turbomachinery blades and rotating components (e.g., Numeca AutoGrid, Ansys Turbogrid) or similar high-end turbomachinery meshing workflows.
• Develop and apply 1D meanline models to establish preliminary designs, generate performance maps, and validate against higher-fidelity simulations (e.g. Concepts NREC).
• Coding experience (e.g., Python, MATLAB, Fortran) or the ability to quickly learn programming languages, is an advantage.

Delivery Mindset

• Partner with customers to address their most complex engineering challenges through advanced CAE & AI solutions; present results clearly, recommend actionable next steps, and balance accuracy with efficiency under tight deadlines.
• Working at the intersection of CAE and Data Science to generate high-quality simulation datasets for training Machine/Deep Learning models.
• Leveraging data sampling techniques to efficiently capture the design space, reduce computational cost, and enhance model accuracy.
• Accelerate high-fidelity modelling by using PhysicsX cloud platform and on-premise HPC resources, going beyond smart meshing and model setup to achieve real performance gains.
• Combining project leadership with a strong commitment to mentoring junior colleagues, contributing to a culture of collaboration, growth, and shared success.
• Traveling globally (North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania) up to 2–3 weeks per quarter to work side-by-side with customers in building solutions on-site.

As the role evolves, there are exciting opportunities for growth as an Individual Contributor (IC) or a Team Lead (TL), especially if you’re driven to take ownership of more complex projects and lead the direction of future solutions.

Please note, this role is based in New York, working 2-3 days per week in our Manhattan office.

Our delivery teams drive innovation to turn AI models into practical solutions - read our blog to learn more about how you’ll contribute to this exciting journey!

What We Offer

• 🚀 Equity options - share meaningfully in the company you’re helping to build.
• 💰 5% contribution to 401(k) - build long-term security with a strong retirement plan.
• 🍽️ Free team lunch 1x/week - good food, great company, and space to connect.
• 🏥 Private health insurance – comprehensive cover for you, offering total peace of mind.
• 👶 Enhanced parental leave – 3 months full pay paternity and 6 months full pay maternity leave, to provide extra flexibility during the moments that matter most.
• ☀️ 20 days of Annual Leave (+ Public Holidays) - because taking time to rest matters.
• 📈 Personal development – dedicated support for learning, development, and leveling up over time.
• 💪 Gympass / Wellhub (subsidized) – for you and up to 3 family members, supporting both physical and mental wellbeing.
• 💳 Flexible Spending Account (FSA) – set aside pre-tax dollars for eligible healthcare expenses.
• 🔎 Watch this space, we’re continuing to build this as we grow…

Salary for this position in the USA is from $206,000 to $260,000

We value diversity and are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of sex, race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, disability, age, sexual orientation or gender identity. We strongly encourage individuals from groups traditionally underrepresented in tech to apply. To help make a change, we sponsor bright women from disadvantaged backgrounds through their university degrees in science and mathematics. We collect diversity and inclusion data solely for the purpose of monitoring the effectiveness of our equal opportunities policies and ensuring compliance with UK employment and equality legislation. This information is confidential, used only in aggregate form, and will not influence the outcome of your application.