Aerospace Engineer: MDAO Design & Optimization Lead

Firestorm; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 102,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical and dental plans

401(k) retirement plan

Equity grants

Unlimited PTO

Job summary

Firestorm is hiring an Aerospace Engineer to lead its in-house MDAO tool for next‑gen unmanned aerial systems. You will architect the framework, integrate disciplined models, and drive trade studies to shape vehicle concepts.

You’ll collaborate across airframe, propulsion, and autonomy teams, implement optimization methods, and ensure alignment with manufacturing constraints, including additive processes. This role is based in San Diego, CA.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering or related field with 3+ years experience, or Master’s with 1+ years.
• Strong foundation in aircraft conceptual/preliminary design, aerodynamics, flight performance, and stability & control.
• Proficiency in Python and experience developing engineering analysis software beyond scripts.
• Hands-on experience with an MDAO framework (OpenMDAO, ModelCenter, Dakota, SUAVE) or building multidisciplinary analysis pipelines.
• Experience with numerical optimization methods and design space exploration.
• Ability to operate in fast-paced, iterative development environments.
• U.S. Person status required due to ITAR regulations.

Responsibilities

• Architect, develop, and maintain Firestorm’s MDAO framework and underlying data structures.
• Develop and integrate discipline analysis modules: aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, stability, and mission analysis.
• Build parametric geometry pipelines to explore unconventional UAS configurations.
• Implement optimization methods: gradient-based, gradient-free, design of experiments, surrogate modeling.
• Validate tool outputs against wind tunnel and flight data; quantify model uncertainty.
• Execute vehicle-level trade studies and sizing analyses for new product development.
• Collaborate with airframe, propulsion, manufacturing, and autonomy teams to reflect real-world constraints.
• Establish version control, testing, documentation, and CI for engineering software.

Skills

Python

MDAO

Aerospace design

Distributed software

Optimization

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s in Aerospace Engineering

Master’s in Aerospace Engineering

Tools

OpenMDAO

OpenVSP

CAD tools

Job description

Firestorm is hiring an Aerospace Engineer to lead its in-house MDAO tool for next‑gen unmanned aerial systems. You will architect the framework, integrate disciplined models, and drive trade studies to shape vehicle concepts.

You’ll collaborate across airframe, propulsion, and autonomy teams, implement optimization methods, and ensure alignment with manufacturing constraints, including additive processes. This role is based in San Diego, CA.