Senior Aircraft Design and Analysis Engineer

As an Aircraft Design and Analysis Engineer, you will play a key technical role defining and assessing Joby’s next generation of products. You must have strong technical skills across a variety of aircraft design and analysis domains. Aircraft definition, integrated performance, and trade studies are particularly important for this role, as are tasks related to outer mold line definition. Competitive candidates will also have deep experience in one or more of the additional skills list (it is not expected that applicants will have most, or all, of the additional skills).

• Aerodynamic analysis. Recent demonstrated experience with aerodynamic analysis using computational methods (e.g., vortex lattice) on aircraft. Vertical-lift experience is a plus.
• Aircraft aerodynamic design. Recent demonstrated experience designing aerodynamic surfaces of aircraft based on both cruise and off-design conditions (e.g. near stall). Vertical-lift experience is a plus.
• Aircraft configuration. Demonstrated industry experience configuring conceptual or preliminary aircraft designs (e.g. seating arrangements, landing gear configuration, cargo bay layout).
• Aircraft performance analysis. Demonstrated experience analyzing the performance of aircraft at the conceptual or preliminary design level (e.g. takeoff field length and landing field length analyses, payload-range curves, using appropriate methods)
• Aircraft system architecture. Demonstrated experience defining high-level airplane system requirements and architecture concepts for early aircraft design
• Aircraft trade study execution. Demonstrated industry experience leading aircraft design trade studies involving engineers from multiple technical disciplines.
• Geometry development. Demonstrated experience generating and manipulating CAD surfaces for aircraft design tasks (e.g. outer mold line)
• Propulsion integration. Analyzing and selecting propulsion concepts for conceptual and preliminary aircraft designs based on mission requirements. Demonstrated experience using typical propulsion analysis tools (e.g. NPSS) is a plus.

• Aeroelasticity. Knowledge of tools and methods typical of aeroelasticity. Assesses aircraft concepts for structural dynamic or aeroelastic issues, such as divergence, flutter, control surface reversal, and aeroservoelastic interactions. Suggests design improvements. Sets high-level stiffness and mass property requirements.
• Aircraft noise. Knowledge of tools and methods typical of aircraft noise assessment. Assesses aircraft concepts for internal and external noise characteristics. Suggests design improvements.
• Aircraft systems. Awareness of the purpose and general function of aircraft systems (e.g. hydraulics, fuel systems). Identifies novel or unusual requirements for aircraft systems early in conceptual design process and assess applicable airplane-level impacts (e.g. weight, power consumption).
• Airworthiness and safety engineering. Awareness of regulatory environment in the US and abroad (especially 14 CFR). Designs aircraft concepts which comply with applicable airworthiness regulations. Analyzes aircraft system concepts for hazards. Familiar with typical airworthiness and safety assessment processes (e.g. FHA, SSA, FTA)
• Cost assessment. Develops models for aircraft operating, acquisition, and lifecycle cost. Applies sensitivity analysis and more sophisticated methods as appropriate to handle future uncertainty.
• Environmental performance. Analyzes aircraft concepts and operating concepts for environmental performance, such as mission and lifecycle carbon or global warming potential (GWP)
• Loads and dynamics. Knowledge of tools and methods typical of loads and dynamics of aircraft. Generates aerodynamic, inertial, gust, and other load cases for the aircraft and coordinates with structures engineers.
• Multidisciplinary design optimization. Applies MDO methods to generate optimal component or surface designs.
• Proposal capture. Demonstrated experience writing proposals for research and development funding opportunities. Participates with or leads proposal capture teams. Participates in contract negotiations. Documents project deliverables. Ensures compliance with applicable terms and regulations. Identifies promising proposal capture opportunities.
• Propulsor design. Designs and analyzes geometry for aircraft propulsion units (e.g. propellers, rotors, stators, flowpaths) using appropriate physical models (e.g. BEMT, airfoil analysis tools, CFD). Balances on-design performance with off-design requirements.
• Scientific computing. Creates and executes scientific computing workflows. Chooses appropriate compute resources given timeline and budget. Experience with Python language is strongly preferred.
• Stability and control. Knowledge of tools and methods typical of stability and control of aircraft. Assesses S&C characteristics of aircraft and makes design changes to satisfy S&C requirements.

Compensation at Joby is a combination of base pay and Restricted Stock Units (RSUs). The target base pay for this position is $140,500 - $187,400/yr. The compensation package will be determined by job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.Joby also offers a comprehensive benefits package, including paid time off, healthcare benefits, a 401(k) plan with a company match, an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP), short-term and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, and more.

Joby is an Equal Opportunity Employer.