Aircraft Engineering Intern (Summer 2027)

Swarm Aero; Oxnard (CA); On-site; USD 18,000 - 32,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in growth-stage defense tech

Competitive base salary

Medical, dental, vision benefits

401k

PTO and paid sick leave

Wellness stipend

Daily catered lunch

Paid parental leave

Impactful mission

World-class engineering team

Job summary

Swarm Aero is seeking an undergraduate Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering student for a summer internship in Oxnard, CA. You will design primary or secondary aircraft structures, create 3D models, and work with manufacturing to resolve producibility issues.

You’ll present your work at the end of the summer with real impact. Ideal candidates are actively pursuing a degree, have CAD experience (NX, CATIA, SolidWorks, Creo, or Fusion 360), and fundamentals in statics and materials.

Qualifications

• Pursuing a degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering.
• Fundamentals in statics, mechanics of materials, machine design, materials and manufacturing.
• Evidence of building things through a design team, UAVs, or personal projects.

Responsibilities

• Design primary or secondary aircraft structures, mechanisms, brackets, supports, or other flight hardware.
• Create and revise 3D models, drawings, and bills of material using GD&T practices.
• Support structural analysis, trade studies, tolerance work, mass-property estimates, or design reviews.
• Work with manufacturing and suppliers to resolve producibility, assembly, and inspection issues.
• Support component, structural, ground, or flight-test preparation and use results to improve the design.

Skills

Statics

Mechanics of materials

Machine design

Materials

Design teamwork

Education

Pursuing degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering

Tools

NX

CATIA

SolidWorks

Creo

Fusion 360

Job description

Swarm Aero is redefining air power, building the largest swarming UAV and the most versatile swarming aircraft network in the world. The company is moving quickly to launch the first aircraft designed specifically for swarming, as well as the Command & Control software to mobilize swarms of thousands of heterogeneous autonomous assets and empower human operators to achieve superhuman results.

The team has created and exited multiple startups, negotiated defense deals worth billions of dollars, and designed and built 30+ novel aircraft, with aerospace experience from Scaled Composites, Airbus, Archer Aviation, Blue Origin, and Boom Supersonic.

READ THIS PART FIRST

An aircraft internship should involve more than updating drawings. You should be able to point to hardware and explain what you changed, why you changed it, and what happened when it was built or tested.

What We Do

Swarm Aero is redefining air power. We are building autonomous aircraft and Legion, command and control software designed to coordinate large numbers of heterogeneous autonomous systems. Our team combines experience building novel aircraft, scaling startups, and delivering technology for national security.

THE INTERNSHIP

You will own a scoped project with a clear technical or business outcome, work directly with the people responsible for the system, and present what you built and learned at the end of the summer. The goal is not to give you practice work. It is to give you useful work with the support to do it well.

What You’ll Do

• Design primary or secondary aircraft structure, mechanisms, brackets, routed-system supports, or other flight hardware
• Create and revise 3D models, drawings, and bills of material using sound GD&T practices
• Support structural analysis, trade studies, tolerance work, mass-property estimates, or design reviews
• Work with manufacturing and suppliers to resolve producibility, assembly, and inspection issues
• Support component, structural, ground, or flight-test preparation and use the results to improve the design

What We’re Looking For

• Currently pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a closely related field, with graduation and enrollment requirements to be confirmed.
• Experience with a CAD package such as NX, CATIA, SolidWorks, Creo, or Fusion 360
• Fundamentals in statics, mechanics of materials, machine design, materials, and manufacturing
• Evidence that you build things through a design team, Formula SAE, rocketry, UAVs, research, a machine shop, or personal projects

What Sets You Apart

• Composite or metallic aircraft structures
• FEA tools such as Nastran, Abaqus, Ansys, or HyperMesh
• Mechanisms, actuation, thermal, fluids, propulsion integration, or routed systems
• GD&T, drawing release, machining, composites, or test experience

What You Do Not Need

Aerospace experience, a perfect GPA, or a previous internship at a famous company. Show us what you have built, analyzed, tested, organized, or improved, and be ready to explain your contribution clearly.

THE HONEST VERSION

The pace is fast, the problems will not arrive fully defined, and you may spend part of the summer learning why your first approach was wrong. We will expect you to ask questions, test your assumptions, document your work, and leave the project better than you found it.

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Swarm Aero is an equal opportunity employer. We value diverse backgrounds and experiences and make employment decisions without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, or disability.

What We Offer

• Meaningful equity in a high-growth defense technology company
• Competitive base salary commensurate with experience
• Medical, dental, vision, and 401k
• PTO and paid sick leave
• Monthly wellness stipend
• Daily catered lunch (office)
• Paid parental leave
• Direct impact on a critical national security mission
• A world-class team of engineers and operators solving genuinely hard problems