Aerodynamics Engineer – Electric Flight CFD & Testing

BETA Technologies; South Burlington (VT); Hybrid; USD 145,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Onsite healthcare in Vermont

Dental and vision coverage

Short- and long-term disability

Paid parental leave

Daily lunch provided

Job summary

BETA Technologies seeks an Aerodynamics Engineer to advance the aerodynamic design, analysis, testing, and validation of its fixed-wing and VTOL aircraft. You will craft aerodynamic models, run CFD, and guide wind-tunnel and flight-test activities, informing configuration, performance, and certification decisions.

Collaborating with Flight Sciences, Structures, Flight Test, and Certification teams, you will optimize next-generation electric aircraft using first-principles methods and

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
• At least 3–5 years of experience in aircraft aerodynamic analysis, aerodynamic design, CFD, wind-tunnel testing, flight test, or related disciplines.
• Experience with CFD analysis and aerodynamic simulation methods of varying fidelity.
• Experience developing or using aerodynamic models to support aircraft performance, stability and control, loads, or flight-dynamics analysis.
• Experience planning, executing, or analyzing wind-tunnel and/or flight-test activities.
• Experience with MATLAB, Python, and data-analysis tools.
• Experience with CAD tools and aircraft geometry development.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate technical results to multidisciplinary teams.
• Curiosity and ability to identify and rapidly implement new analysis, modeling, and test methods for next-generation aircraft.
• Must be a US Person to be considered for the role.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain aerodynamic models of varying fidelity to support aircraft design, performance, stability and control, loads, and flight-dynamics analysis.
• Prepare, execute, and post-process full-vehicle and subsystem CFD simulations.
• Develop and improve CFD pre-processing, post-processing, and automation methodologies to increase the quality, efficiency, and repeatability of aerodynamic analyses.
• Lead aerodynamic design studies, including airfoil selection, lifting-surface sizing, lofts and blends, high-lift systems, and aircraft configuration trade studies.
• Develop and maintain aircraft drag budgets and performance calculations to support design refinement and vehicle-level requirements.
• Plan and support wind-tunnel test campaigns, including development of test objectives, test matrices, instrumentation approaches, flow-visualization studies, and post-processing routines.
• Correlate CFD predictions and low-fidelity aerodynamic models with wind-tunnel and flight-test data; identify discrepancies and drive model and design improvements.
• Collaborate with Flight Test to plan, execute, analyze, and document flight-test activities that validate aerodynamic performance, handling characteristics, and vehicle-level requirements.
• Balance aerodynamic performance with structural, propulsion, flight-controls, thermal, and certification considerations to make informed aircraft-level design tradeoffs.
• Support aerodynamic loads development and work with the Structures team to ensure aerodynamic capability is accurately captured in aircraft loads and structural-sizing analyses.
• Develop aerodynamic validation and verification strategies that support aircraft development and certification milestones.
• Communicate analysis methods, results, technical findings, and recommendations through clear reports and presentations.
• Use a multidisciplinary understanding of aircraft design to proactively identify opportunities to improve vehicle performance, analysis methods, and test processes.

Skills

Aerodynamics analysis

Wind-tunnel testing

Flight dynamics

Data analysis

Communication

Education

B.S. in Aerospace Engineering

B.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Related field

Tools

MATLAB

Python

CAD tools

Job description

BETA Technologies seeks an Aerodynamics Engineer to advance the aerodynamic design, analysis, testing, and validation of its fixed-wing and VTOL aircraft. You will craft aerodynamic models, run CFD, and guide wind-tunnel and flight-test activities, informing configuration, performance, and certification decisions.

Collaborating with Flight Sciences, Structures, Flight Test, and Certification teams, you will optimize next-generation electric aircraft using first-principles methods and