Principal Flight Controls Engineer

ELECTRA; Manassas (VA); On-site; USD 176,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

STD/LTD

Life insurance

PTO

Winter break

401(k)

Free catered lunches

Free on-site parking

Job summary

Electra is seeking a Principal Flight Controls Engineer to lead the development and maturation of control laws for the EL9 Ultra Short aircraft. You will inherit a baseline concept, drive detailed design, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to certify a novel configuration.

You will demonstrate deep expertise in flight dynamics, control theory, and model-based verification, while guiding a high-performing team toward certification readiness and robust flight safety.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 10+ years of relevant experience.
• Strong understanding of flight dynamics, control theory, and handling qualities.
• Experience with model-based development, simulation environments, and control law verification.
• Experience deploying safety-critical software to a real-time embedded platform.
• Experience with aircraft systems, aerodynamics, actuators, sensors, and propulsion.

Responsibilities

• Support end-to-end development of control laws for the EL9 aircraft, from preliminary design through certification.
• Develop and validate control law software, ensuring alignment across systems, performance, and structures.
• Integrate control laws into the Flight Control system and support verification and flight testing.
• Ensure control laws meet performance, safety, and handling quality requirements at the aircraft level.

Skills

Flight dynamics

Control theory

Model-based development

Simulation environments

Control law verification

Real-time embedded systems

Aerodynamics

Sensors and actuators

Communications

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Model-based development tools

Job description

Air travel is about to become something more: more direct, more accessible, and more connected to the places where people live, work and want to be. Every day in the U.S., people make 35 million trips of 50–500 miles, stuck in traffic or routed through crowded hubs. Chances are, you've been one of them. At Electra, we're changing that with the EL9, a nine-passenger, hybrid-electric aircraft that takes off and lands in just 150 feet. Our Ultra Short technology opens up thousands of new places to fly, beyond conventional runways, congested airports and long drives. We're backed by Lockheed Martin, Honeywell and Safran. Operators worldwide have signed intent-to-purchase agreements for the first 2,200 aircraft we produce, and we're moving toward first test flights in 2027.

Getting a new kind of aircraft airborne takes more than ambition. It takes our kind of bold: people who think big while working in the real world. Who move ideas into action and collaborate without silos. Who put people first and make room at the table for everyone. Who challenge one another without diminishing one another.

Sound like you? Then look beyond what you thought were your own limits, and help us take flight beyond runways.

The Role

As a Principal Flight Controls Engineer you will help support the development of the Control Laws for the EL9 Ultra Short aircraft. You will inherit a baseline concept and prototype implementation and be a part of a team finalizing preliminary design, driving detailed design execution, and maturing the system to a certifiable configuration. This role requires deep expertise in flight controls and control theory as well as strong leadership capabilities. You will be a part of a high-performing team where you will collaborate with the flight control system team, airframe team, and flight physics team, and play a central role in bringing a novel aircraft configuration through certification.

What You'll Do

• Support the end-to-end Control Law development for the EL9 aircraft, from preliminary design through certification.
• Help development and validation of the control law software, ensuring alignment across systems, performance, and structures.
• Support control law integration into the Flight Control system, including verification, and flight test
• Ensure that the control laws meets performance, safety, and handling quality requirements at the aircraft level.

What You'll Bring:

• Bachelor's degree and 10+ years of relevant experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Strong understanding of flight dynamics, aircraft control theory, and handling qualities.
• Experience with model-based development, simulation environments, and control law verification.
• Experience deploying safety-critical software to a real-time embedded platform
• Experience with modeling aircraft and aircraft systems, aerodynamics, aero-elastic effects, actuators, sensors, and propulsion systems.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to balance deep technical involvement with strategic leadership responsibilities.

Bonus Points

• Experience leading control law development for novel or highly integrated aircraft configurations (e.g., STOL, eVTOL, hybrid-electric aircraft).
• Experience developing algorithms for fly-by-wire and/or stability augmentation systems, from initial concept through flight testing.
• Familiarity with industry-standard aerospace development and certification practices (DO-178, DO-331) applicable to flight software development.
• Familiarity with automated testing, CI/CD pipelines
• Experience with redundant and fault-tolerant control system architectures.
• Experience building, scaling, and managing high-performing engineering teams, including hiring, mentoring, and driving technical excellence and accountability.

This role requires on-site presence.

This position may require relocation.

Compensation Range

This range reflects the anticipated hiring range across all eligible locations; actual compensation is determined based on your relevant experience, skills, and geographic location. Total compensation includes performance bonus and comprehensive benefits.

$176,000 - $220,000 USD

What We Offer

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance; STD, LTD, and life insurance
• Generous PTO, sick leave, and company holidays
• Paid winter break
• 401(k) with immediate vesting
• Free catered lunches, coffee, snacks, and drinks at our Manassas headquarters
• Free on-site parking

Electra is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. This position may be subject to ITAR requirements.