Chief Engineer

Destinus; Zürich; Vor Ort; CHF 150.000 - 210.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

Destinus seeks a systems architect to define an aerospace product from first principles, turning an ambiguous, high-stakes challenge into a clear architecture, a working system, and a real flying platform. This role blends product vision with hard engineering reality and speed.

You will own the architecture, connect controls, sensing, navigation, software, propulsion, and test strategy, lead decisions on what to build or buy, and lead a small elite engineering team toward a demonstrator with

Qualifikationen

• Strong academic foundation in aerospace engineering, physics, robotics, control systems, or a related field.
• Deep understanding of dynamics, estimation, controls, and system level thinking.
• Proven experience on high dynamic or high reliability systems, ideally through full test or flight cycles.
• Ability to move between architecture design, simulation, coding, and hands-on testing.

Aufgaben

• Define system objective function and translate mission needs into a coherent product architecture that works in the real world.
• Connect controls, sensing, navigation, software, propulsion, avionics, and test strategy to serve the product.
• Lead architecture decisions, trade-offs, and decisions on build vs buy.
• Create fast design test loops, turning uncertainty into validated knowledge through simulation and hardware testing.
• Build and lead a small elite engineering team, setting technical bar high and keeping execution sharp.
• Identify high-risk areas early and design experiments to reduce those risks.
• Drive the system from concept to demonstrator with scalable, real product outcomes.

Kenntnisse

Aerospace Engineering

Controls

Simulation

System thinking

Hands-on testing

AI in engineering

Leadership

Coding

Cross-functional collaboration

Ausbildung

Master's degree in Aerospace/Mechanical/Systems Engineering

PhD in a related field (nice to have)

Tools

Simulink

Python

Jobbeschreibung

Imagine this. You are not just optimizing a system, you are defining an entirely new aerospace product from the first principles. You take an ambiguous, high-stakes challenge and turn it into a clear architecture, a working system, and a real flying platform. This role is about ownership at the deepest technical level, where product vision meets hard engineering reality and speed matters as much as precision.

What You´ll Do

• You define the system objective function and translate mission needs into a coherent product architecture that actually works in the real world
• You connect the dots across controls, sensing, navigation, software, propulsion, avionics, and test strategy, making sure everything serves the product, not the other way around
• You lead architecture decisions and make tough trade-offs, deciding what to build, what to buy, and what to challenge
• You create fast design test learn loops, turning uncertainty into validated knowledge through simulation, hardware testing, and iteration
• You build and lead a small elite engineering team, setting the technical bar high and keeping execution sharp and focused
• You identify the highest risk areas early and design experiments that reduce those risks quickly and decisively
• You drive the system from concept to demonstrator, aligning technical credibility with scalability and real product outcomes

About the Role

Imagine this. You are not just optimizing a system, you are defining an entirely new aerospace product from the first principles. You take an ambiguous, high-stakes challenge and turn it into a clear architecture, a working system, and a real flying platform. This role is about ownership at the deepest technical level, where product vision meets hard engineering reality and speed matters as much as precision.

What You´ll Do

• You define the system objective function and translate mission needs into a coherent product architecture that actually works in the real world
• You connect the dots across controls, sensing, navigation, software, propulsion, avionics, and test strategy, making sure everything serves the product, not the other way around
• You lead architecture decisions and make tough trade-offs, deciding what to build, what to buy, and what to challenge
• You create fast design test learn loops, turning uncertainty into validated knowledge through simulation, hardware testing, and iteration
• You build and lead a small elite engineering team, setting the technical bar high and keeping execution sharp and focused
• You identify the highest risk areas early and design experiments that reduce those risks quickly and decisively
• You drive the system from concept to demonstrator, aligning technical credibility with scalability and real product outcomes

Requirements

What You'll Need

• Strong academic foundation in aerospace engineering, physics, robotics, control systems, or a related field
• Deep understanding of dynamics, estimation, controls, and system level thinking
• Proven experience working on high dynamic or high reliability systems, ideally through full test or flight cycles
• Ability to move seamlessly between architecture design, simulation, coding, and hands-on testing
• Experience with system trade studies, simulation environments, and integrating complex subsystems into a unified product
• Solid coding and modeling skills with a practical mindset
• Experience using AI tools to accelerate engineering workflows in real, tangible ways
• Ability to lead technical teams while staying hands-on and close to the core engineering work

Who You Are

You think in systems, not silos. You are driven by building real products, not just elegant ideas. You are comfortable with ambiguity and move fast to create clarity through action. When others debate, you test. When others optimize subsystems, you focus on the full product. You take ownership of hard problems and push them forward with intensity and discipline. You value small, high-performing teams and believe speed, first principles, and technical depth beat bureaucracy every time.