Engineering Design and Simulation (CAD & Simulation Consultant) - Aerospace / Mechanical / Electrical Engineering

Prolific; Deutschland; On-site; EUR 83,000 - 138,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Freelance

20–60 hrs/week commitment

Job summary

Prolific is seeking experienced mechanical, electrical and aerospace engineers to design, build and review simulation-led engineering tasks. You will translate real engineering problems into precise, measurable briefs, and write graders and reference solutions that verify them.

The role requires strong fundamentals, hands-on simulation experience, and the ability to produce clear, reproducible work in a fast-paced environment. Proficiency with CAD and open-source tools is highly valued.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience in mechanical, electrical or aerospace design and simulation.
• Strong engineering fundamentals and ability to define a problem robustly.
• Hands-on experience with modelling, simulation and design projects.
• Proficiency with open-source tools for your domain: CAD/Open-Source tools listed.
• Python scripting for automation, analysis and result processing.
• Analytical validation and clear technical documentation of assumptions and decisions.

Responsibilities

• Turn real engineering problems into precise, measurable briefs.
• Write graders and reference solutions to check designs.
• Review simulation-led tasks for accuracy and reproducibility.
• Collaborate to define task scopes, constraints and success criteria.
• Document design decisions and assumptions clearly for graders.
• Peer review and quality assessment of engineering outputs.
• Communicate progress and results effectively to team and stakeholders.

Skills

CAD engineering

Simulation

Python scripting

Analytical thinking

Education

PhD or MSc in mechanical/electrical/aerospace

Tools

FreeCAD

CadQuery

build123d

Gmsh

CalculiX

Code_Aster

MuJoCo

KiCad

OpenFOAM

Job description

Engineering Design and Simulation (CAD & Simulation Consultant) - Aerospace / Mechanical / Electrical Engineering

About Prolific

Prolific is not just another player in the AI space – we are building the biggest pool of quality human data in the world.

Over 35,000 AI developers, researchers, and organizations use Prolific to gather data from paid study participants with a wide variety of experiences, knowledge, and skills.

About the Project:

We are building a benchmark of physical engineering design tasks across mechanical, electrical and aerospace engineering. Each task describes what a device must do. An AI agent then uses open-source engineering tools in a sandbox to deliver a design, and an automated grader checks whether it works. You will help create the tasks and graders that measure how well frontier AI models can do real engineering design work.

Role Overview:

We are seeking experienced mechanical, electrical and aerospace engineers to design, build and review simulation-led engineering tasks. You will turn real engineering problems into precise, measurable briefs, and write the graders and reference solutions that check them. The role needs strong engineering fundamentals, hands-on simulation experience, and the ability to produce clear, reproducible work.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strong proficiency in CAD engineering and simulation tools
• Candidates must have a minimum of 5+ years of experience working in CAD engineering and simulation-focused organizations
• Strong aerospace/mechanical/electrical engineering fundamentals
• Hands-on experience with modeling, simulation, or design projects
• Analytical mindset with strong problem-solving skills
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment
• Robust engineering problem definition
• Modelling and simulation
• Analytical validation and sanity checking
• Design trade-off analysis
• Technical documentation
• Peer review and quality assessment
• Clear communication of assumptions and engineering decisions
• Proficiency in the following tools as per their domain:
• CAD: FreeCAD, CadQuery, build123d (STEP output)
• Structural: Gmsh + CalculiX; Code_Aster
• Motion: MuJoCo or another scripted multibody simulator that supports closed loops
• Electrical: ngspice, KiCad; open PDK flows (e.g. SKY130 with Magic / KLayout) for IC layout
• Aero / fluids: XFOIL, AVL, OpenVSP / VSPAERO, XFLR5, MachUpX; OpenFOAM where the budget allows

Key Requirements:

• 5 + years of professional experience in mechanical, electrical or aerospace design and simulation
• Strong engineering fundamentals and the ability to define a problem robustly
• Hands-on experience with modelling, simulation and design projects
• Proficiency in open-source tools for your domain:
• CAD: FreeCAD, CadQuery, build123d (STEP output)
• Structural: Gmsh + CalculiX; Code_Aster
• Motion: MuJoCo or another scripted multibody simulator that supports closed loops
• Electrical: ngspice, KiCad; open PDK flows (e.g. SKY130 with Magic / KLayout) for IC layout
• Aero / fluids: XFOIL, AVL, OpenVSP / VSPAERO, XFLR5, MachUpX; OpenFOAM where the budget allows
• Python scripting for automation, analysis and result processing
• Analytical validation and sanity checking
• Clear technical documentation and communication of assumptions

Preferred Qualifications:

• PhD or MSc in a mechanical, electrical or aerospace discipline
• Experience writing automated graders, test suites or verification scripts
• Experience with Docker and headless tool pipelines
• Prior experience at leading aerospace or engineering companies
• Commitment: minimum 20 hrs/week (including weekends), up to 60 hours in total for the project
• Employment type: Freelance