Lead Airframe Design Engineer — CATIA​/D

Position: Lead Airframe Design Engineer — CATIA / 3DEXPERIENCE

Own the physical design of ASKA's airframe. Lead a hands-on design team turning aircraft requirements into a coherent, lightweight and manufacturable vehicle, from CATIA geometry through prototype hardware.

Lead ASKA's airframe mechanical design under the CTO, owning airframe geometry, structural arrangement, physical packaging and the technical quality of released design packages. You will remain hands-on in CATIA while directing the Airframe Design Engineer and coordinating with aerodynamics, loads, stress, systems and manufacturing specialists. Previous aircraft and eVTOL design delivery and technical leadership are required.

Employment Full-time proposed

Location & work arrangement Eagle Field - Palo Alto area / remote for analysis and design to be defined; hands-on integration and test visits to be discussed

Technical leadership of airframe mechanical design: aircraft geometry, structural arrangement, physical packaging, design decisions and quality of released engineering packages.

Key working interfaces

The Lead Airframe Design Engineer owns airframe geometry, structural layout, physical packaging and design decisions; the Airframe Design Engineer creates detailed parts and assemblies. Loads supplies aircraft load cases and aeroelastic assessments. Stress evaluates strength, buckling, fatigue and structural margins and recommends design changes. Airframe Design implements and releases geometry changes. Mass Properties maintains weight/CG records. Propeller engineering owns blades and hubs;
Aircraft Systems coordinates vehicle requirements and subsystem integration.

What you'll do

• Own the airframe geometry, structural arrangement, design datums and physical packaging baseline for the drive-and-fly vehicle, coordinating aerodynamic surfaces with Aerodynamics and subsystem requirements with Aircraft Systems.
• Lead airframe concept trades and detailed mechanical design across composite and metallic structures, balancing mass, stiffness, packaging, manufacture, assembly and service access.
• Create and review 3
  
  DEXPERIENCE CATIA parts, surfaces and assemblies; establish practical modeling, drawing and interface conventions and review the engineering quality of design releases.
• Assign and review work with the Airframe Design Engineer, mentor design staff and remain personally accountable for difficult geometry and mechanical-design decisions.
• Coordinate load paths, joints, materials and attachments with Loads, Stress and Materials specialists; turn their findings into controlled design changes and resolve cross-discipline design issues.
• Coordinate airframe installation envelopes and attachment interfaces with propulsion, batteries, folding mechanisms, landing and road systems and equipment owners.
• Lead design reviews and prototype build support with manufacturing and tooling teams, resolving fit, access, tolerance and manufacturability problems.
• Deliver reviewed design packages and design-change rationale through the established configuration process; work with the CTO and Program Manager on priorities, staffing and delivery.
• Establish and continually improve airframe design-review criteria and verification checklists with stress, manufacturing and systems specialists; use design and build discrepancies to improve checks for interface completeness, tolerances, manufacturability and release quality.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering, or equivalent demonstrated aircraft mechanical-design expertise.
• Typically 8+ years of hands-on aircraft mechanical or airframe design, including technical leadership and responsibility for airframe assemblies taken from concept through prototype manufacture and integration.
• Required previous hands-on airframe or aircraft mechanical-design work on an eVTOL development program, with responsibility for design decisions and delivered hardware.
• Minimum 3 years of hands-on Dassault Systèmes 3
  
  DEXPERIENCE CATIA experience creating and reviewing controlled parts, surfaces, assemblies and engineering drawings.
• Demonstrated ability to lead aircraft designers, review detailed engineering work, mentor engineers and resolve mechanical-design tradeoffs while remaining hands-on.
• Experience with composite and metallic aircraft structures, structural arrangement, joints, installation packaging, GD&T, tolerance analysis and manufacturable lightweight design.
• Experience coordinating design decisions with aerodynamics, loads, stress, materials, systems, tooling and manufacturing teams…