Aerodynamics Engineer
Archer is an aerospace company based in San Jose, California building an all-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft with a mission to advance the benefits of sustainable air mobility. We are designing, manufacturing, and operating an all-electric aircraft that can carry four passengers while producing minimal noise.
Our sights are set high and our problems are hard, and we believe that diversity in the workplace is what makes us smarter, drives better insights, and will ultimately lift us all to success. We are dedicated to cultivating an equitable and inclusive environment that embraces our differences, and supports and celebrates all of our team members.
What you'll do:
- Perform aerodynamic simulations of Archer eVTOL aircraft using low-/mid-fidelity tools
- Develop linear/non-linear aerodynamic models to predict aircraft behavior and performance throughout the flight envelope
- Process experimental (flight test and wind tunnel) data and compare with predictions
- Leverage experimental data to improve aerodynamic models of the vehicle
- Support verification and validation activities that rely on the model outputs and experimental results
- Contribute to the development of Archer aerodynamic software stack and improve methods behind the modeling tools and workflows
What you need:
- BS / MS / PhD in Aerospace Engineering or a related field
- 3+ years of experience with BS, or 1+ years of experience with MS, or 0-1 years of experience with PhD modeling rotorcraft, tiltrotor, eVTOL aerodynamics
- Strong understanding of fixed-wing and rotorcraft aerodynamics, performance, stability & control
- Experience modeling eVTOL and/or multicopter vehicles, including 6 DoF vehicle trimming
- Experience with free wake methods and vortex particle wake solvers for fixed-wing and rotorcraft applications
- Experience with surrogate modeling and statistical analysis
- Experience with gradient-based and gradient-free optimization techniques
- Demonstrated experience with flight test data processing and interpretation, ideally on rotorcraft, tiltrotor, and/or eVTOL programs
- Proficiency in Python programming
- Familiarity with software development best practices, object-oriented best practices, version control, CICD, Conda
- Experience utilizing high-performance computing (HPC) to parallelize workflows
- Excellent work planning and issue resolution skills
- Strong technical, written, and verbal communication skills
- Ability to work in groups and individually
- Experience in a fast-paced design environment
Bonus Qualifications:
- Experience with wind tunnel testing and data processing of rotorcraft, tiltrotor, eVTOL
- Experience planning flight test campaigns to collect aerodynamics data for design verification purposes, including system identification
- Experience with aero low-/mid-/high-fidelity simulation tools for loads calculations
- Work experience with comprehensive analysis tools such as RCAS or CAMRAD2
- Experience with NASA Overflow and Fun3D CFD software
- Experience with surface parametrization and aerodynamic shape optimization
- Experience with developing, training, and optimizing neural networks or other machine learning models
- Familiarity with Part 23 certification basis
- Familiarity with ASTM standards for fixed wing and rotorcraft
- Familiarity with Matlab/Simulink, and Fortran/C++ coding
At Archer we aim to attract, retain, and motivate talent that possess the skills and leadership necessary to grow our business. We drive a pay-for-performance culture and reward performance that supports the Company's business strategy. For this position we are targeting a base pay between $160,000- $180,000. Actual compensation offered will be determined by factors such as job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.