Flight Controls Engineer

General Atomics; Poway, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) seeks a Flight Controls Engineer for Production Programs in the San Diego/ Poway area.

The GNC engineer will focus on flight controls and support world-class production UAV programs, collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure airworthiness and performance. Qualifications include a engineering degree with two+ years of experience, C/C++ and MATLAB skills, and the ability to obtain DoD clearance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in engineering or related field with two+ years of engineering experience.
• Degree in aerospace/aeronautical, electrical, mechanical, or related field highly desirable.
• Demonstrates growing technical understanding of engineering principles and deadlines.
• Strong documentation and communication skills.
• Coding in C or C++ and MATLAB scripting.
• Ability to obtain and maintain DoD security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Perform GNC-related tasks for aircraft modifications including requirements, software integration and validation.
• Conduct simulation analysis to support airworthiness risk assessment and flight test planning.
• Analyze flight data and troubleshoot flight control anomalies with flight software actions.
• Evaluate impact of changes on Flight Controls from payloads and software updates.
• Ensure developments meet system requirements and industry best practices.
• Interact with Aerodynamics, Structures, Test and Systems Engineers; travel to flight test facilities.

Skills

C/C++ coding

MATLAB scripting

Communication

DoD clearance

Customer focus

Teamwork

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in engineering

Aerospace/electrical/mechanical engineering preferred

Job description

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is a world leader in proven, reliable remotely piloted aircraft and tactical reconnaissance radars, as well as advanced high-resolution surveillance systems.

GA-ASI has an exciting opportunity for a Flight Controls Engineer Production Programs to support our Flight Technologies group in in San Diego (Poway), CA. The guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) engineer will focus on flight controls and support world class production Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) programs.

Job Summary

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is a world leader in proven, reliable remotely piloted aircraft and tactical reconnaissance radars, as well as advanced high-resolution surveillance systems.

GA-ASI has an exciting opportunity for a Flight Controls Engineer Production Programs to support our Flight Technologies group in in San Diego (Poway), CA. The guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) engineer will focus on flight controls and support world class production Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) programs.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Perform GNC-related tasks for varying levels of aircraft modifications, including requirements development, software integration and validation, simulation analysis to support airworthiness risk assessment, flight test planning, and analysis of flight data.
• Evaluate the impact to Flight Controls from system changes, such as new external payloads and software updates, utilizing linear and non-linear analyses, piloted simulation, SIL/HIL testing, and ground/flight testing.
• Ensure new developments comply with system requirements, legacy system performance, and follow industry best practices.
• Troubleshoot flight control anomalies experienced in fielded systems via flight data analysis and simulation, correlating with flight software operation and generating flight software corrective actions.
• Analyze the aerodynamic characteristics of existing aircraft to ensure current flying qualities performance is maintained.
• Comfortable interacting with disciplines closely related to Flight Controls, such as Aerodynamics, Structures, Test Engineers, and Systems Engineers.
• Occasional travel to flight test facilities to support ground and flight test activities.

We recognize and appreciate the value and contributions of individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences and welcome all qualified individuals to apply.

Job Qualifications

• Typically requires a bachelors or masters degree in engineering or a related technical discipline from an accredited institution and two or more years of engineering experience with a bachelors degree. May substitute equivalent engineering experience in lieu of education.
• Degree in aerospace/aeronautical, electrical, mechanical, or related engineering field is highly desirable.
• Demonstrates a growing technical understanding and application of engineering principles, concepts, theory, and practice with the ability to organize, plan, schedule, conduct, and coordinate workloads to meet established deadlines or milestones.
• Above-average documentation and communication skills.
• Coding in C or C++ programming language.
• MATLAB scripting.
• Must be customer focused and able to work on a self-initiated basis or in a team environment.
• Ability to obtain and maintain DoD security clearance is required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with unmanned air vehicles.
• Simulink model programming.
• Automatic code generation using MathWorks’ toolset.
• Coding in Python programming language.