Senior / Staff Aeroelasticity Engineer

The role

You will use aeroelasticity expertise to drive hardware and product design decisions. You will develop aerodynamic and structural load envelopes and conduct aeroelastic analyses to keep delivery aircraft safe and scalable.

What you will do

• Own aeroelasticity and flutter strategy for Zipline’s aircraft
• Own the development of full vehicle aerodynamic and structural load envelopes
• Perform loads and flutter analyses, including both quasi-static and dynamic cases
• Define program loads, aeroelastic, and aeroservoelastic requirements
• Build finite element models for integrated loads and flutter analyses
• Conduct aeroelastic stability assessments, including divergence and control reversal checks
• Collaborate across hardware, software, and vehicle operations
• Evaluate static strength and fatigue life of aircraft structures
• Execute flutter, loads, and modal testing from start-to-finish
• Provide mentorship, guidance, best practices, and build standardized in-house tools and processes

Required qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, or related field
• 7+ years of industry experience in loads and aeroelasticity
• Expertise in aircraft loads analysis, flutter, and structural dynamics
• Experience with aircraft Ground Vibration Test (GVT) planning and execution
• Deep knowledge of Zona, ZAERO, NASTRAN SOL144/145, or other aeroelasticity tools
• Experience with FEMAP/NASTRAN, Siemens Simcenter, or other finite element software
• Analytical/scientific programming experience (Python, MATLAB)
• Clear owner mentality with rapid decision cadence
• Tolerance for ambiguity and shifting configurations
• Disciplined documentation habits
• Excellent hardware intuition
• Must be eligible to work in the US

Benefits

• Equity compensation
• Discretionary annual or performance bonuses
• Sales incentives
• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Paid time off

About the company

Zipline is the world’s largest and most experienced drone delivery service. They design, build, and operate an autonomous logistics system to deliver food, medicine, and essential goods.