Senior Aerodynamics Engineer

3w3 weeks ago

Astro Mechanica

San Francisco, US · Full-time · $160,000 – $215,000

About this role

Astro Mechanica is a vertically integrated aerospace company building a faster, more connected future through supersonic travel that's flexible, accessible, and sustainable. As a Senior Aerodynamics Engineer, you move seamlessly between first-principles physics, computational analysis, and experimental validation, using each to inform the others. You take ownership of complex, ambiguous problems and drive them to ground truth.

You perform design and analysis of aircraft aerodynamics across subsonic, transonic, and supersonic regimes. Conduct CFD analysis with multiple solvers, develop optimization techniques, and create parametric geometry models. Support wind tunnel model design, fabrication, testing, and data analysis while working with cross-functional teams on trade studies and MDAO systems.

We're a team of passionate engineers who are generalists with specialist depth, united by a flat structure and obsession with building things that work. We move fast, stay pragmatic, and let engineering excellence speak louder than hierarchy. You thrive in this fast-paced, hands-on environment focused on real hardware.

Lead concept refinement, cross-discipline trade studies, and develop a highly skilled flight sciences team. Directly shape the performance of high-speed flight systems for government and commercial applications. Balance sound engineering judgments with speed and rigor to advance adaptable, high-speed systems.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in aerodynamic design and analysis, CFD analysis, and optimization techniques
Proficiency in CFD solvers, parametric geometry modeling, and wind tunnel testing
Experience with high-fidelity aerodynamic shape optimization using adjoint-based methods and heuristic methods
Experience synthesizing a variety of computational, experimental, and multi-fidelity data sources into cohesive aerodynamics models for design, performance, stability and control, flight simulator development, and experimental flight testing
Expertise in architecting multidisciplinary design, analysis, and optimization (MDAO) frameworks for transonic and supersonic configurations, integrating various solvers and models
Proficiency with high performance computing (HPC) environments, mesh adaptation, adjoint-based optimization, and implementation of HPC via AWS, Azure, Google HPC
Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary teams

Responsibilities

Perform design and analysis of aircraft aerodynamics across subsonic, transonic, and supersonic flight regimes
Conduct computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis using multiple solvers, including gridding and post-processing methods
Develop and apply advanced optimization techniques to enhance aerodynamic performance
Create and utilize parametric geometry models for design and analysis purposes
Support the design, fabrication, testing, and data analysis of wind tunnel models
Work closely with cross-functional teams to refine concepts, conduct trade studies, and develop multidisciplinary design, analysis, and optimization (MDAO) systems
Lead concept refinement, cross-discipline trade studies, and develop a highly skilled flight sciences team