- Robot type
- Drone · Defense
- Location
- OxnardCaliforniaUSA
- Job type
- Hardware
- Posted
- Sep 13, 2026
- Salary
- $155,000–$240,000 a year
Full-time
Structures Design Engineer, Aiframe
Job description
The team has created and exited multiple startups, negotiated defense deals worth billions of dollars, and designed and built 30+ novel aircraft, with aerospace experience from Scaled Composites, Airbus, Archer Aviation, Blue Origin, and Boom Supersonic.
We are building a Group 5 autonomous aircraft and driving it to first flight. We are in detailed design with tooling in work, and we are looking for a structures design engineer to own parts on that aircraft from concept through first article.
You will design and size real hardware: control surfaces, ribs and spars, frames, doors and access panels, fittings and joints.
This is a role for someone who wants to design more and coordinate less.
Job responsibilities
- Own structural design and sizing for primary and secondary airframe structure, including wing, fuselage, empennage, and major joints
- Develop the loads and criteria set for the aircraft and turn it into sized structure with documented margins
- Run static, buckling, fatigue, and dynamic analysis in FEA, and know when hand calcs are the faster and better answer
- Design in composites and metallics, and make the call on which belongs where based on weight, cost, and rate
- Work directly with manufacturing on layup design, tooling concepts, part count, and assembly sequence so the design we release is the design we can build
- Define and run structural test, from coupon and element testing through component and full scale static test, and reconcile test results against the model
- Support integration of propulsion, landing or recovery systems, payload bays, and control surface actuation into the structure
- Own your parts end to end, from concept through drawings, vendor coordination, first article, and flight
Job requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field (advanced degree preferred).
- 5+ years of experience in composite structure design for aircraft, spacecraft, or similar vehicles.
- Deep understanding of composite and metal material properties, composite laminate design, composite structure analysis, bonding and joining techniques.
- Strong expertise in CAD software, particularly Siemens NX and Fibersim, or equivalent software.
- Led the design and analysis of composite structures throughout the product lifecycle, from conceptualization to production.
- Hands-on experience with composite part fabrication and bonding.
- Familiarity with aviation industry standards and DoD certification requirements.
- Ability and willingness to travel to our Oxnard headquarters for onsite collaboration and meetings.