Composite Aircraft Structures Engineer — Ownership

Swarm Aero; Fayetteville (AR); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Competitive salary

Medical insurance

PTO & sick leave

Wellness stipend

Catered lunch

Parental leave

Job summary

Swarm Aero in the United States is seeking a senior structures design engineer to own parts from concept through first article on our Group 5 autonomous aircraft. You will design and size real hardware—frames, ribs, spars, doors, joints—and drive them through analysis, drawings, vendor coordination, and first article validation.

You’ll work in CAD and FEA daily, collaborate with manufacturing on layup, tooling, and assembly, and travel to our Oxnard headquarters for onsite collaboration.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in composite structure design for aircraft, spacecraft, or similar vehicles.
• Deep understanding of composite and metal material properties, laminate design, bonding and joining techniques.
• Strong CAD skills with Siemens NX and Fibersim.
• Led design and analysis of composite structures through product lifecycle.

Responsibilities

• Own structural design and sizing for primary and secondary airframe structure, including wing, fuselage, empennage, and major joints.
• Develop the loads and criteria set for the aircraft and turn it into sized structure with documented margins.
• Run static, buckling, fatigue, and dynamic analysis in FEA, and know when hand calcs are faster.
• Design in composites and metallics, choosing materials based on weight, cost, and rate.
• Coordinate with manufacturing on layup design, tooling concepts, part count, and assembly sequence.
• Define and run structural tests from coupons to full-scale static tests, reconciling results with the model.
• Support integration of propulsion, landing/recovery systems, payload bays, and actuation into the structure.
• Own parts end to end from concept through drawings, vendor coordination, first article, and flight.

Skills

Composite design

CAD (Siemens NX)

Materials knowledge

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace/Mechanical Engineering

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Siemens NX

Fibersim

Teamcenter

Job description

Swarm Aero in the United States is seeking a senior structures design engineer to own parts from concept through first article on our Group 5 autonomous aircraft. You will design and size real hardware—frames, ribs, spars, doors, joints—and drive them through analysis, drawings, vendor coordination, and first article validation.

You’ll work in CAD and FEA daily, collaborate with manufacturing on layup, tooling, and assembly, and travel to our Oxnard headquarters for onsite collaboration.