Chief Engineer

Apera; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Apera in Mountain View, CA, is seeking a Chief Engineer to own the aircraft development programme and shape the engineering organisation from the ground up. This hands-on leadership role sits at the intersection of flight sciences, propulsion, structures, and systems integration, with direct collaboration to the founder.

The successful candidate will drive end-to-end technical decisions, balance trade-offs across disciplines, and guide the project from subscale development to a full-scale

Qualifications

• Meaningful ownership of an aircraft development programme.
• Experience in clean-sheet or early-stage aircraft development.
• Multidisciplinary aircraft-level decision-making.
• Experience moving from concept/design into prototype, integration or flight test.
• Ability to challenge specialists outside your deepest discipline.
• Strong technical judgement with incomplete information.
• Comfort operating in a fast-moving, high-ownership environment.

Responsibilities

• Define the aircraft and the engineering organisation around it.
• Own the aircraft-level technical baseline and guide multidisciplinary trade-offs.
• Turn flight-test evidence into engineering decisions for the programme.
• Lead the programme from subscale development toward a full-scale aircraft.
• Operate hands-on by design in a small, early-stage environment.
• Collaborate closely with suppliers, prototypes and testing teams to build the technical team.

Job description

CHIEF ENGINEER | BAY AREA | FULLY ONSITE

We're partnering with the founder of an early-stage electric aviation company developing a personal eVTOL, now moving from successful subscale flight testing into the next phase of full-aircraft development.

This isn’t simply another engineering leadership hire.

The business is looking for someone who wants to become a technical owner of the aircraft itself ... that means: helping turn early flight hardware, test data, engineering specialists and supplier activity into one coherent aircraft programme.

What matters most here is not your current title, but what you have genuinely owned.

You may already be a Chief Engineer, or you could be a Principal, Staff, Lead, Deputy Chief Engineer or Technical Lead who has developed deep expertise in one area and gradually taken responsibility for wider aircraft-level decisions.

If you’ve reached the point where you’re influencing the whole vehicle rather than just your own subsystem, this could be the opportunity to take the next step.

The Position

You’ll work directly alongside the founder and an experienced technical advisory network, helping define both the aircraft and the engineering organisation around it.

The remit spans the complete vehicle, bringing together specialists across:

• Flight Sciences / Aerodynamics
• Flight Controls / GNC
• Propulsion
• Structures
• Electrical Systems
• Battery / Power Systems
• Systems Integration
• Prototype Build & Flight Test
• Certification

You’ll help own the aircraft-level technical baseline, make multidisciplinary trade-offs, turn flight-test evidence into engineering decisions and guide the programme from subscale development towards a full-scale aircraft.

This is an early-stage environment, so the role is hands-on by design.

You won’t be inheriting a 200-person engineering organisation. You’ll be close to the aircraft, the design decisions, suppliers, prototype activity and testing while helping build the technical team around you.

What We’re Looking For

We’re particularly interested in engineers who can demonstrate:

• Meaningful ownership of an aircraft development programme
• Clean-sheet or early-stage aircraft development
• Multidisciplinary aircraft-level decision-making
• Experience moving from concept/design into prototype, integration or flight test
• The ability to challenge specialists outside your deepest discipline
• Strong technical judgement when working with incomplete information
• Comfort operating in a fast-moving, high-ownership environment

Relevant backgrounds could include:

eVTOL / VTOL, advanced aircraft, rotorcraft, UAV/UAS, experimental aircraft, electric aviation, autonomous aircraft or other clean-sheet aerospace programmes.

Previous Chief Engineer experience is valuable, but it is not mandatory. The emphasis is on technical ownership and evidence that you’re ready to take responsibility for the aircraft as a whole.

Why This One Is Different

This is an opportunity to join early enough to have a genuine influence over:

• The aircraft architecture
• How the engineering organisation is built
• How technical decisions are made
• How prototype and flight-test learning feeds the next aircraft
• The long-term direction of the programme

For the right person, there is significant scope for the remit to grow as the company and aircraft programme develop.

Location: Mountain View, CA

Working model: 100% onsite

Candidates must already have the right to work in the US, as the company is unable to provide visa sponsorship.

If you’ve spent your career becoming exceptional within one area of aircraft engineering but increasingly find yourself making decisions across the whole vehicle, I’d be very interested in speaking.