Aircraft Architect

Title:

Aircraft Architect Reporting to:
Systems Engineering Manager_________________________________________________________________________________AALTO’s Zephyr is a High-Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) and is the only one of its kind to have demonstrated day/night longevity in the stratosphere. Providing a persistent and adaptable solution, unlike other unmanned aircraft. Its persistence enables a capability of flying continuously for months at a time, at around 70,000 feet, above weather and conventional air traffic.

The newly established entity shall become the leading Global HAPS Connectivity as a Service (CaaS) provider for the Mobile and Satellite Network Operator market – connecting the diverse needs of our customers – whether for rural, overlay capacity, disaster recovery or new services provision. In addition, it shall offer Platform as a Service (PaaS) to the Institutional and Military markets for Earth observation, tracking and communications requirements, as well as operating a global fleet of carbon neutral HAPS platforms – powered by sunlight.

Job Purpose:

As an Aircraft Architect, you will play a pivotal role in the design, development, and operations of the Zephyr system. Leveraging your extensive experience and expertise in aircraft architect engineering and air operations. You will lead and contribute to complex engineering projects, ensuring they meet performance, safety, and aviation standards. You will work closely with cross-functional teams to ensure successful implementation, meeting project objectives, and adhering to safety and regulatory requirements, while complementing other Aircraft Architects through strong mechanical and structural expertise.

Responsibilities:

Aircraft Architecture and Integration:

Define and maintain the aircraft structural and mechanical system architecture, including primary and secondary structures, interfaces, and load paths.

Conduct aircraft-level design trades balancing weight, strength, stiffness, durability, aeroelastic behaviour, thermal effects, and manufacturability.

Ensure coherent integration with propulsion, avionics, and other aircraft Systems.

System Modelling and Trade Studies:

Develop and apply top-level engineering models to support architectural decisions and system-level understanding.

Lead multidisciplinary trade studies, evaluating design options across performance, mass, structural efficiency, and operational constraints.

Provide quantitative support to key decisions using simplified and fit-for-purpose modelling approaches.

Ensure modelling activities remain aligned with programme maturity and engineering needs.

Structural Engineering Leadership:

Provide technical authority in structural design and stress analysis.

Review and challenge design solutions to ensure robustness, efficiency, and certification readiness.

Guide the appropriate application of structural analysis methods and tools (e.g. FEA).Certification and Compliance:

Define and lead structural certification strategies, including means of compliance, substantiation methods, and verification approaches.

Act as Compliance Verification Engineer (CVE) where required and interface with certification authorities.

Ensure compliance with applicable airworthiness regulations and certification standards.

Systems Engineering and Lifecycle Integration:

Lead structural contributions to requirements definition, decomposition, and traceability.

Support and contribute to aircraft and system-level design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR).Ensure alignment between structural design & integrity industrial requirements and programme objectives (system performance, maintainability & sustainability and operational/industrial cost requirements).Support and contribute to configuration control governance (ECO, CCB), ensuring that structural and mechanical changes are properly assessed, justified, and aligned with the overall aircraft architecture.

Testing and Flight Validation:

Define and oversee structural verification and validation activities, including ground testing and correlation with analysis.

Support flight test campaigns, including definition of instrumentation and assessment of in-flight structural…