Lead MDAO Engineer, Weapons Performance & Flight Systems

Zone 5 Technologies; Fort Walton Beach (FL); On-site; USD 149,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits package

401(k) with company-match

Paid time off • holidays

Career growth opportunities

Job summary

Zone 5 Technologies is seeking an experienced MDAO Lead to drive multidisciplinary design, analysis, and optimization for air-launched effects and next‑generation munitions. You will mentor engineers, develop automated workflows, and validate results against test data to enable robust vehicle-level sizing and trade studies.

Join a team delivering cutting-edge UAS capabilities and high‑fidelity simulations, with opportunities to influence technical direction and system-level decisions across

Qualifications

• Bachelor's in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering required; Master's often expected for senior level.
• 10+ years leading multidisciplinary design, analysis, and optimization in program-driven environments.
• Experience carrying an MDAO effort through to real hardware on at least one program of record.
• Ability to execute full scope across design, tooling, and cross-discipline collaboration.
• Experience with OpenMDAO, ModelCenter/Phoenix, or similar optimization pipelines.
• Experience building validation libraries and unit tests for MDAO code.
• Experience integrating CAD/CFD/FEA toolchains into a common workflow.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. DoD Secret clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead MDAO design, analysis, and optimization for vehicle-level studies.
• Establish shared MDAO methods, tools, and documentation across programs.
• Develop automated workflows integrating CAD/CFD/FEA into optimization loops.
• Author architecture documentation for the MDAO toolset and pipelines.
• Mentor engineers across disciplines on MDAO methods and tools.
• Present findings and trade studies at design reviews (PDR/CDR).

Skills

MDAO

Python

C++

OpenMDAO

Git

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace/Mechanical Engineering

Master's degree (typical)

Tools

SolidWorks

CATIA

Siemens NX

CFD/FEA tools

Job description

Zone 5 Technologies is seeking an experienced MDAO Lead to drive multidisciplinary design, analysis, and optimization for air-launched effects and next‑generation munitions. You will mentor engineers, develop automated workflows, and validate results against test data to enable robust vehicle-level sizing and trade studies.

Join a team delivering cutting-edge UAS capabilities and high‑fidelity simulations, with opportunities to influence technical direction and system-level decisions across