Staff Engineer, Aircraft Configuration Design
Design and integrate aircraft configurations for autonomous UAV platforms, supporting sizing, CAD modeling, aerodynamic and structural analysis, prototyping, and production transition. Requires a relevant bachelor's degree, 5 years of aircraft design experience, and an active Secret clearance.
About the job
Responsibilities
- Support conceptual and preliminary design of autonomous UAV platforms, including aerodynamic and structural configuration optimization.
- Perform aircraft sizing, weight estimation, and configuration trade studies.
- Integrate mechanical, electrical, propulsion, avionics, and mission systems.
- Develop and refine 3D CAD models of aircraft structures, subsystems, and flight-critical components.
- Conduct basic aerodynamic and structural analyses using computational tools, including FEA, CFD, and weight-and-balance assessments.
- Participate in design reviews, system trade studies, prototype development, rapid prototyping, and scaled-model wind tunnel testing.
- Support requirements development, technical documentation, and verification planning for aircraft subsystems.
- Ensure designs meet manufacturing, mission, and aerospace standards requirements.
- Collaborate with manufacturing and production teams to transition designs from concept through prototype and full-scale production.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Systems Engineering, or a related field.
- 5 years of experience in aircraft design, configuration layout, or airframe integration.
- Proficiency with CAD modeling tools such as NX or SolidWorks.
- Basic understanding of aircraft aerodynamics, structures, and propulsion-system integration.
- Ability to perform basic FEA, CFD, or weight-and-balance assessments.
- Strong problem-solving, attention to detail, cross-functional collaboration, communication, and technical documentation skills.
- Active Secret clearance.
Nice-to-haves
- Master's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Systems Engineering, or a related field.
- Experience with UAV design or aircraft conceptual design.
- Familiarity with aircraft performance modeling, stability and control, and flight dynamics.
- Experience with rapid prototyping, wind tunnel testing, or flight hardware development.
- Knowledge of manufacturing techniques, composite materials, and aerospace structural design principles.
- Experience in a fast-paced technology startup or defense environment.
- Active TS clearance or ability to obtain a TS clearance.
Skills
Aircraft Design, Uav Design, Aircraft Aerodynamics, Airframe Structures, Propulsion Integration, CAD, Nx, Solidworks, FEA, Cfd, Weight And Balance, Wind Tunnel Testing, Flight Dynamics, Composite Materials, Systems Integration
Similar jobs
Hardware Engineering jobs
Crusoe
United States
Designs and optimizes data center whitespace environments, integrating rack layouts, power, cooling, cabling, and redundancy for scalable cloud infrastructure. Requires a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, 7+ years of experience, and proficiency with CAD/BIM tools and data center standards.
Shield AI
Dallas, TX
Own reliability modeling and failure-prediction strategy for the V-BAT unmanned aircraft system, using field and test data to guide design, production, testing, and sustainment decisions. Requires a bachelor’s degree and 5+ years of reliability engineering experience, with expertise in FTA, FMECA, and MTBF.
Shield AI
Dallas, TX
Leads flight-critical high- and low-voltage power electronics design for an autonomous aircraft, from concept through production and validation. Requires a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, 6+ years of power electronics experience, product-shipping experience, and technical leadership.
Mariana Minerals
Houston, TX
Leads networking, systems administration, instrumentation, and controls infrastructure for mineral-refining facilities, from equipment design through commissioning and ramp. Requires at least seven years of control-system networking experience, expert Ignition knowledge, and experience delivering large capital projects.
Mariana Minerals
Houston, TXLeads instrumentation and controls engineering for mineral-refining equipment and plant infrastructure from design through commissioning and operations handover. Requires 7+ years of instrumentation experience, control and HMI programming, capital-project execution, and leadership of engineering teams.