UAV Concept Engineer — Rapid Design & Sizing

Saab UK; Bedford; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Saab UK is seeking a UAV Concept Engineer to strengthen our early-stage design capability, turning requirements and CONOPS into sized, analysed air vehicle concepts through rapid trade studies.

You will synthesize flight-test data to calibrate models and feed improvements back into sizing methods, while working within a multidisciplinary Concepts team to enable fast, iterative design decisions.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience in aircraft sizing, concept-design tooling, and synthesis of flight-test data.
• Experience in UAV conceptual design, sizing, constraint analysis, weight and mission/energy sizing.
• Familiarity with OpenVSP, RCAIDE, AVL, XFLR5, Datcom or equivalent tools.
• Solid applied aerodynamics knowledge, drag build-up, lift curves, drag polars.
• Experience synthesising flight logs/telemetry/test data to validate models.
• Proficient in Python for automation and data processing.
• Understanding of the full conceptual design loop: geometry, aerodynamics, weights, propulsion, mission performance, stability & control.
• Ability to work iteratively with fast, defensible estimates and communicate assumptions clearly.
• Strong problem-solving and proactive approach to improve methods.
• Able to collaborate across a small multidisciplinary team.
• Structural analysis, FEA, airframe structural sizing.
• Stability & control analysis, flight dynamics modelling, handling qualities.
• Design-of-experiments for subsystems.
• Propulsion sizing and integration of electric, hybrid-electric or gas turbine systems.
• Experience with PX4 / ArduPilot, SITL/HITL simulation, and processing autopilot flight logs (ULog, MAVLink).
• CAD and geometry handling; exporting/meshing surfaces for higher-fidelity aero.
• Mid- to high-fidelity aero exposure (panel methods such as FlightStream, or RANS CFD).
• Experience working in safety-critical, regulated or defence environments.
• Ability to gain SC Clearance.

Responsibilities

• Perform aircraft conceptual sizing and constraint analysis to define feasible design points.
• Develop and morph parametric air vehicle geometry and drive it through the analysis loop.
• Produce the core conceptual outputs each iteration: drag polars, lift curves, weight breakdowns, mission energy/endurance.
• Run trade studies and design-space exploration to make optimisation and sensitivity studies fast.
• Synthesise flight-test and bench-test data and use it to validate, calibrate and improve conceptual models.
• Select and shape propulsion system concepts and integrate them into mission and energy-network performance analysis.
• Maintain, improve and where appropriate build the concept-design toolchain and automation.
• Capture and communicate design risk and feed it into the programme risk register.

Skills

Aircraft sizing experience

Concept-design tooling

Flight-test data synthesis

OpenVSP

RCAIDE

AVL

XFLR5

Datcom

Python scripting

Automation and tooling

Design-space exploration

SITL/HITL simulation

MAVLink/ULog experience

Tools

OpenVSP

RCAIDE

AVL

XFLR5

Datcom

FlightStream

Panel CFD

Job description

Saab UK is seeking a UAV Concept Engineer to strengthen our early-stage design capability, turning requirements and CONOPS into sized, analysed air vehicle concepts through rapid trade studies.

You will synthesize flight-test data to calibrate models and feed improvements back into sizing methods, while working within a multidisciplinary Concepts team to enable fast, iterative design decisions.