Aerospace Engineer

Department: Engineering

Location: San Francisco

Employment Type: FullTime

About Poseidon Aerospace:

Poseidon Aerospace builds and operates unmanned planes for commercial logistics and defense missions. Our two full-size fixed-wing platforms - Heron, a seaplane, and Egret, a STOL aircraft - can carry two tons of payload over a thousand nautical miles. We are headquartered in San Francisco with satellite offices in Washington, DC and Maine.

As an Aerospace Engineer at Poseidon Aerospace, you will shape the aerodynamic and performance characteristics of our next-generation composite aircraft. Your work will include CFD modeling, aerodynamic optimization, performance analysis, and test correlation. You will help translate flight objectives such as speed, range, and efficiency into manufacturable aircraft. The role combines analytical work with hands-on testing and collaboration across design and manufacturing teams.

Responsibilities:

• Design and validate aerodynamic surfaces, configurations, and control geometries using CFD analysis and historical data

• Support flight dynamics modeling and simulation for stability, control, and performance assessment

• Provide input on propulsion integration, cooling airflow, and control surface sizing

• Work with mechanical and manufacturing engineers to ensure aerodynamic designs are practical and efficient to produce

• Conduct aerodynamic load analyses to ensure the airframe is supported

• Create and maintain aerodynamic databases, performance models, and engineering documentation

• Correlate CFD and analytical predictions with flight test data

• Participate in flight testing and data review to compare measured results with predicted performance

• Aid in the development of flight simulation models

Ideal Qualifications:

• Proficiency with CFD tools such as ANSYS Fluent, Star-CCM+, XFLR5

• Experience using CAD software such as Fusion 360, SolidWorks, CATIA, or NX for geometry creation and surface preparation

• Strong understanding of aerodynamics, stability and control, and aircraft performance

• Familiarity with mesh design and refinement including fluent meshing

• Working knowledge of structural analysis and load validation

• Ability to interpret flight test data and create analytical performance models

• Understanding of composite design and manufacturing methods for aerodynamic surfaces

• Independent, practical engineer comfortable in a hands-on development environment

Nice to Have:

• Experience with flight testing, data acquisition, or post-flight data analysis

• Experience with X-Plane aircraft design

• Background in seaplane design

• Experience with wind tunnel or scaled model testing

• Programming skills in Python or MATLAB for CFD and performance automation

• Basic experience with FEA for assessing load paths or aerodynamic-induced stresses

Even if you do not meet every qualification, we encourage you to apply. At Poseidon Aerospace, we value engineers who learn quickly and have a track record of building and solving problems.