Lead Airframe Design Engineer — CATIA / 3DEXPERIENCE

Aska Fly; Firebaugh (CA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

ASKA seeks an experienced Lead Airframe Design Engineer to own geometry, packaging and design decisions for a drive-and-fly vehicle. You will lead a hands-on team, coordinate with aerodynamics, loads, stress, materials and manufacturing to deliver robust airframe hardware from concept through prototype.

Front-line CATIA/3DEXPERIENCE work, robust design release practices, and mentorship of engineers are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering or equivalent experience.
• 8+ years hands-on airframe design with technical leadership on an eVTOL or aircraft program.
• Hands-on CATIA/3DEXPERIENCE experience delivering hardware from concept to prototype.
• Experience coordinating with aerodynamics, loads, stress, materials, systems and manufacturing teams.

Responsibilities

• Own airframe geometry, structural layout, physical packaging and design decisions.
• Lead design across composite and metallic structures, balancing mass, stiffness, and manufacturability.
• Create and review CATIA parts, surfaces and assemblies; ensure design release quality.
• Mentor design staff and manage cross-discipline design tradeoffs while hands-on.
• Coordinate with loads, stress and materials specialists to translate findings into changes.
• Lead design reviews and prototype build support with manufacturing and tooling teams.
• Deliver reviewed design packages through configuration processes with CTO oversight.
• Improve airframe design-review criteria and verification checklists with related teams.

Skills

Airframe design leadership

CATIA

Structural design

Airframe packaging

Education

Bachelor's degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering

Tools

3DEXPERIENCE CATIA

CATIA V5

ENOVIA workflows

Job description

Own the physical design of ASKA's airframe. Lead a hands-on design team turning aircraft requirements into a coherent, lightweight and manufacturable vehicle, from CATIA geometry through prototype hardware.

Lead ASKA's airframe mechanical design under the CTO, owning airframe geometry, structural arrangement, physical packaging and the technical quality of released design packages. You will remain hands-on in CATIA while directing the Airframe Design Engineer and coordinating with aerodynamics, loads, stress, systems and manufacturing specialists. Previous aircraft and eVTOL design delivery and technical leadership are required.

Employment Full-time proposed

Location & work arrangement Eagle Field - Palo Alto area / remote for analysis and design to be defined; hands-on integration and test visits to be discussed

Technical leadership of airframe mechanical design: aircraft geometry, structural arrangement, physical packaging, design decisions and quality of released engineering packages.

Key working interfaces

The Lead Airframe Design Engineer owns airframe geometry, structural layout, physical packaging and design decisions; the Airframe Design Engineer creates detailed parts and assemblies. Loads supplies aircraft load cases and aeroelastic assessments. Stress evaluates strength, buckling, fatigue and structural margins and recommends design changes. Airframe Design implements and releases geometry changes. Mass Properties maintains weight/CG records. Propeller engineering owns blades and hubs; Aircraft Systems coordinates vehicle requirements and subsystem integration.

What you'll do

• Own the airframe geometry, structural arrangement, design datums and physical packaging baseline for the drive-and-fly vehicle, coordinating aerodynamic surfaces with Aerodynamics and subsystem requirements with Aircraft Systems.
• Lead airframe concept trades and detailed mechanical design across composite and metallic structures, balancing mass, stiffness, packaging, manufacture, assembly and service access.
• Create and review 3DEXPERIENCE CATIA parts, surfaces and assemblies; establish practical modeling, drawing and interface conventions and review the engineering quality of design releases.
• Assign and review work with the Airframe Design Engineer, mentor design staff and remain personally accountable for difficult geometry and mechanical-design decisions.
• Coordinate load paths, joints, materials and attachments with Loads, Stress and Materials specialists; turn their findings into controlled design changes and resolve cross-discipline design issues.
• Coordinate airframe installation envelopes and attachment interfaces with propulsion, batteries, folding mechanisms, landing and road systems and equipment owners.
• Lead design reviews and prototype build support with manufacturing and tooling teams, resolving fit, access, tolerance and manufacturability problems.
• Deliver reviewed design packages and design-change rationale through the established configuration process; work with the CTO and Program Manager on priorities, staffing and delivery.
• Establish and continually improve airframe design-review criteria and verification checklists with stress, manufacturing and systems specialists; use design and build discrepancies to improve checks for interface completeness, tolerances, manufacturability and release quality.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering, or equivalent demonstrated aircraft mechanical-design expertise.
• Typically 8+ years of hands-on aircraft mechanical or airframe design, including technical leadership and responsibility for airframe assemblies taken from concept through prototype manufacture and integration.
• Required previous hands-on airframe or aircraft mechanical-design work on an eVTOL development program, with responsibility for design decisions and delivered hardware.
• Minimum 3 years of hands-on Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE CATIA experience creating and reviewing controlled parts, surfaces, assemblies and engineering drawings.
• Demonstrated ability to lead aircraft designers, review detailed engineering work, mentor engineers and resolve mechanical-design tradeoffs while remaining hands-on.
• Experience with composite and metallic aircraft structures, structural arrangement, joints, installation packaging, GD&T, tolerance analysis and manufacturable lightweight design.
• Experience coordinating design decisions with aerodynamics, loads, stress, materials, systems, tooling and manufacturing teams and maintaining controlled configuration and release records.

Preferred qualifications

Experience with folding-wing or other convertible aircraft configurations, composite ply-design tools, bonded and mechanically fastened joints, large aircraft assemblies and ENOVIA workflows. Experience supporting ground and flight-test hardware changes is valuable.

AI tools and automation: Preferred: experience using ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft 365 Copilot or equivalent tools for technical research, analysis, documentation or reporting. Where relevant, describe use of Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot or equivalent tools for Python/MATLAB scripts, CAD/CAE workflow automation or test-data processing. Provide a specific example, your contribution, any measured time saved or quality improvement, and how you verified the result. Equivalent tools are welcome.

We welcome transferable experience from related industries. You do not need to meet every preferred qualification. Tell us what you have delivered and how your skills apply to this role.

Location & working arrangements

Eagle Field Airport 11100 W Eagle Ave, Firebaugh, CA 93622

Eagle Field Airport is our primary development and manufacturing location. Palo Alto area or remote arrangements may be considered for engineering work that does not require hands-on access. All current openings require availability to participate in development and flight-testing activities at Eagle Field Airport from time to time, with advance coordination. Flight-test roles require on-site availability for preparation and campaigns. Scheduling and travel arrangements will be discussed for each role.

About ASKA

At ASKA, we are on a mission to build the world’s first AI sensor fusion and digital twin system that manages autonomous driving and autonomous flying in one vehicle. We are bringing ground and air autonomy together to support the warfighter - moving critical supplies, reaching people in need, and reducing exposure in dangerous environments. Our team works across aircraft engineering, intelligent software, electric propulsion, and advanced manufacturing, with development and testing at Eagle Field Airport in California. Bring your expertise. Take ownership. Help build technology that matters.

ASKA welcomes applicants with diverse backgrounds and relevant experience. For questions or application accommodations, message the recruiting team.