CFD Engineer – Thermal & Internal Fluid Dynamics (PhD)

Outrigo is an industrial deep-tech company building Morph, an intelligence-driven platform that unifies computational design, simulation, metal additive manufacturing and automated assembly into a single traceable workflow. We develop high-performance hardware for the space, aerospace, defence and mobility sectors, pushing the boundaries of what can be designed and manufactured.

We are seeking a highly qualified CFD Engineer, holding a PhD, with deep expertise in thermal-fluid dynamics and internal flows to lead the thermal and fluid simulation capability within Morph. The successful candidate will develop and validate high-fidelity models for internally cooled, additively manufactured components, such as regeneratively cooled rocket engine chambers, compact heat exchangers, cold plates and conformal cooling channels, and will help turn that expertise into automated, AI-assisted simulation workflows that drive design decisions.

All must be eligible to work in Spain.

Responsibilities / What you will do

• Lead CFD and conjugate heat transfer (CHT) analysis of internal flows in complex geometries, including cooling channels, manifolds, injectors, heat exchangers and lattice/TPMS structures.

• Develop, verify and validate high-fidelity models for turbulent heat transfer, pressure drop and flow distribution, including compressible, reacting or supercritical/real-gas flows where required.

• Build robust, scripted simulation workflows (geometry preparation, meshing, solver setup, convergence monitoring and post-processing) within Morph's OpenFOAM-based CFD pipeline, enabling design-space exploration with minimal manual intervention.

• Work with the computational design and AI teams to couple CFD with automated geometry generation, surrogate and reduced-order models, and thermal-fluid design optimisation (including adjoint and topology optimisation).

• Capture the effects of laser powder bed fusion (surface roughness, minimum feature size, channel distortion) in thermal-fluid models and correlate them with test data from printed parts.

• Collaborate with structural engineers on coupled thermo-mechanical analysis of thermally loaded components.

• Define and support experimental validation campaigns (pressure drop, flow rate, temperature and heat flux measurements) and correlate simulation results with physical test data.

• Establish simulation best practices, verification and validation standards, and mentor engineers in thermal-fluid analysis.

• Prepare comprehensive technical reports and presentations for customers and stakeholders, and contribute to R&D grant proposals, publications and intellectual property.

• Adhere to Health and Safety legislation and uphold Outrigo's workplace standards to create a safe and productive work environment.

Experience / Who you are

• PhD in Mechanical, Aerospace, Chemical Engineering or a closely related field, with doctoral research in CFD, heat transfer or thermo-fluid dynamics (essential).

• At least 3 years of industrial or post-doctoral experience CFD to thermal and internal flow problems.

• Expert knowledge of fluid mechanics, heat transfer and turbulence modelling (RANS, e.g. k-ω SST, and LES), near-wall treatment and conjugate heat transfer.

• Advanced proficiency in OpenFOAM, including customisation of solvers and boundary conditions, and experience with at least one commercial code such as ANSYS Fluent/CFX, Simcenter STAR-CCM+, or similar.

• Strong meshing skills for complex internal geometries (snappyHexMesh, Gmsh, Fluent Meshing, or similar), with rigorous mesh independence and V&V practice.

• Proficiency in Python for automation, data analysis and workflow orchestration; experience with Linux and HPC environments.

• Proven track record of correlating simulation with experimental data.

• Desirable experience with regeneratively cooled rocket engines, gas turbine cooling, battery thermal management or compact heat exchangers.

• Desirable experience with additively manufactured flow components and the effect of surface roughness on heat transfer and pressure drop.

• Desirable experience with multiphase, reacting or supercritical/real-gas flows.

• Desirable experience with adjoint or topology optimisation, reduced-order modelling, or machine learning surrogate models for CFD.

• Desirable experience in programming languages such as C/C++, and a record of peer-reviewed publications.

• Fluent English.

• Strong analytical and problem solving skills.

• Excellent team-worker, who is agile, proactive, and has a "startup" attitude.

• Track record demonstrating creativity and ingenuity.

What we offer

• Competitive salary commensurate with your skills, experience, and contribution to the field of thermal-fluid simulation.

• The opportunity to shape the thermal-fluid simulation capability of an AI-driven engineering platform from an early stage.

• In-house metal additive manufacturing (LPBF), so you can design, print and test your own concepts.

• Involvement in high-impact programmes across the space, aerospace, defence and mobility sectors.

• Professional development and growth opportunities, including support for conferences and publications.

• Potential for international travel.

• Access to a range of benefits that support your well-being, including private medical insurance.