Director of Flight Physics & Autonomy

AALTO; Greater London; On-site; GBP 95,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Short-term incentive plan

25 days holiday

Private medical insurance

Dental and optical cash back

Pension plan

Income protection

Life assurance

Perkbox employee discounts

Job summary

AALTO in Farnborough seeks an Engineering/Physics professional to join the Zephyr Flight Dynamics team. You will lead development of aeroelastic, flight dynamics and aero loads models, and manage the Flight Physics Team, collaborating with meteorology SMEs to capture environmental limits.

You’ll define and run simulations in MATLAB/Simulink, CFD, and develop robust control laws for on-board automation, contributing to qualification and flight clearance documentation.

Qualifications

• Engineering or physics-based degree required.
• Experience with unmanned autonomous air systems strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with Flight Physics in aerospace contexts.
• Knowledge of Flight Control Clearance processes with certifying authorities.
• Ability to translate system requirements into complete designs.
• Experience documenting algorithm architecture.

Responsibilities

• Support development of aeroelastic, flight dynamics and aero loads models with SMEs.
• Manage and develop the Flight Physics Team.
• Collaborate with Meteorology SMEs on environmental conditions and limits.
• Define and run simulations (MATLAB/Simulink, CFD).
• Define robust contingency control laws for safe flight.
• Define control laws and architecture for on-board automation (FCS, Navigation, Sensor Mgmt).
• Ensure software requirements are correctly implemented and compliant with quality criteria.
• Establish qualification/verification processes and flight test methods.
• Prepare engineering design data packs, flight clearance reports, and flight manuals.

Skills

Unmanned systems

Flight Physics awareness

Flight Control Clearance

Systems requirements

Algorithm architecture

CFD/FEA tools

Wind tunnel

Flight testing

Embedded C

Stability and control

AFGCS knowledge

Education

Engineering/Physics degree

Tools

MATLAB

Simulink

CFD

FEA

Job description

AALTO in Farnborough seeks an Engineering/Physics professional to join the Zephyr Flight Dynamics team. You will lead development of aeroelastic, flight dynamics and aero loads models, and manage the Flight Physics Team, collaborating with meteorology SMEs to capture environmental limits.

You’ll define and run simulations in MATLAB/Simulink, CFD, and develop robust control laws for on-board automation, contributing to qualification and flight clearance documentation.