MDAO Engineer

Huntington Beach, California, United States

Founded in 2023, Mach Industries is a rapidly growing defense technology company focused on developing next-generation autonomous defense platforms. At the core of our mission is the commitment to delivering scalable, decentralized defense systems that enhance the strategic capabilities of the United States and its allies. With a workforce of approximately 350 employees, we operate with startup agility and ambition.

Our vision is to redefine the future of warfare through cutting-edge manufacturing, innovation at speed, and unwavering focus on national security. We are dedicated to solving the next generation of warfare with lethal systems that deter kinetic conflict and protect global security.

Mach Industries is seeking an MDAO Engineer to develop the engineering models, software, and optimization workflows that enable rapid, rigorous vehicle design across Mach's product suite. You will help shape an expanding MDAO capability and build the tools that Conceptual Design and Operational Performance engineers use to evaluate vehicle concepts and make better design decisions.

This is a software and model development role grounded in aerospace engineering. You will create reusable multidisciplinary analysis capability, connect models across vehicle disciplines, and advance the optimization and automation methods that make design studies faster and more reliable. You will also work directly with the engineers using these tools, including applying new capabilities to real vehicle studies when needed.

• Develop reusable engineering models, software components, and computational workflows for multidisciplinary vehicle analysis and optimization.
• Architect and extend the computational architecture and interfaces that connect aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, mass properties, controls, mission performance, and parameterized geometry.
• Develop derivative-enabled models and workflows for efficient gradient-based optimization, including appropriate methods for computing and verifying sensitivities.
• Build and maintain practical software and model-development practices, including clear interfaces, version control, documentation, automated testing, reproducibility, and validation.
• Develop multi-fidelity analysis capabilities using higher-fidelity simulation, ground test, flight test, and operational data to improve model accuracy.
• Improve the performance, robustness, and usability of MDAO workflows as the number of models, users, and vehicle programs grows.
• Partner with conceptual design, configuration, and performance engineers to identify high-value development priorities and ensure the resulting tools support real design decisions.
• Apply and evaluate new capabilities through vehicle sizing, configuration trade, mission analysis, and performance studies as needed.
• Contribute to setting the technical direction for MDAO at Mach and, as experience grows, mentor engineers who contribute to or use its models and workflows.

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related technical field.
• 2+ years of relevant engineering experience in engineering software, computational design, MDAO, vehicle design, or optimization.
• Experience developing engineering models, analysis software, or optimization workflows for aerospace vehicles or other complex physical systems.
• Working knowledge of aerospace vehicle design and the interactions between aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, mass properties, controls, and mission performance.
• Familiarity with conceptual design, preliminary design, configuration and sizing, mission performance, or operational performance analysis.
• Sof…