Aircraft Certification Design Engineer

Aircraft Certification Design Engineer

As an aircraft manufacturer, industrialist, industrial service provider and logistician, Daher currently has approximately 14,500 employees and achieved a revenue of 1.9 billion euros in 2025. With its family ownership, Daher has been focused on innovation since its creation in 1863. With locations in 15 countries across Europe, North America and Asia, Daher designs and develops value-added solutions for its aeronautical and industrial customers and partners.

Daher's Idaho site, located in Sandpoint Idaho, a small outdoor community located between Lake Pend Oreille and Schweitzer Mountain, is home to Kodiak, a rugged mission ready 10-seat short takeoff and landing turboprop. The facility supports design, manufacturing, development, maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) activities for the Kodiak 100 and Kodiak 900, serving customers worldwide. The team of approximately 300 employees builds airplanes starting largely from raw materials, all the way through painting, to final assembly, defining built by hand in Sandpoint Idaho.

Beyond final assembly is comprehensive customer service, aircraft maintenance, technical support, and quality oversight, while continuing to engineer the next generation of Kodiak capability.

Kodiak Aircraft Company is seeking a Certification Engineer to act as a primary certification coordinator, serving as a focal for the Kodiaks relationship with the FAA. This role provides technical and regulatory guidance on type design changes, manages major and minor change classifications, and ensures compliance with 14 CFR Part 23 and Part 21 requirements.

The position involves close coordination with the FAA West Certification Branch (WCB), support for foreign validations, and strategic navigation of evolving regulatory policies. Additional responsibilities include preparing certification plans and compliance documentation, maintaining conformity oversight, and supporting continued operational safety activities such as Service Bulletin and Airworthiness Directive management, 21.3 reporting, and root cause analysis to uphold airworthiness and fleet safety standards.

Core Duties and Responsibilities (other duties may be assigned):

• Review of all type design changes to:
• Provide technical and regulatory input to cross-functional teams
• Classify each change as either a minor or major change in accordance with the approved Minor Change Agreement (MCA)
• Confirm all relevant regulations are addressed in the change substantiation
• Ensure that changes are submitted to each applicable DER in accordance with MCA requirements
• Maintain a strong, constructive relationship with the FAA WCB program manager
• Facilitate routine discussions with the FAA to secure timely support for certification programs and design changes that require coordination with the FAA
• Actively monitor and develop strategic plans to navigate the ever-changing FAA policies, and personnel changes
• Support development and completeness of compliance checklists (CCL) as needed in support of Major Change programs and help maintain CCLs throughout the course of major certification programs
• Support certification activities, including preparation of compliance documentation and test plans
• Support foreign validation efforts and navigate various complex sovereign authority agreements
• Support fleet continued operational safety (COS) activities

What you need to have: (This is where you would put the requirements for the job)

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, or related Engineering discipline
• Minimum 10 aerospace experience (3 years with direct involvement in certification activities, including certification plans, FAA coordination, DER collaboration)
• Well-versed in 14 CFR Part 23, Amdt 23-63 and prior
• Working knowledge of 14 CFR Part 21D certification and FAA Order 8110.4.
• Knowledge of relationship between regulations, Orders, and Advisory Circulars.
• Understands minor change requirements, experience working with a Minor Change Agreement.
• Able to cultivate excellent working relationship with the FAA.
• Experience and/or familiarity with foreign validation processes and concepts.
• Able to learn the Kodiak airplane models' structures and systems in support of minor change agreement
• Able to manage certification plans, compliance checklists, compliance documents, conformity inspections, etc. for a certification project.
• Familiarity with system safety concepts and processes including FHA, SSA, and FMEA as used in general aviation.

Additional Qualifications (preferred):

• Pilot's license or operational knowledge of general aviation aircraft
• Broad-level knowledge of aircraft systems architecture
• Understanding of aerodynamics, aircraft performance, stability and control, and flight systems
• Familiarity with DO-160 environmental requirements and testing
• Experience managing continued operational safety for fielded aircraft, including:
• Development, issuance, and compliance tracking of Service Bulletins (SBs), Mandatory SBs, and Airworthiness…