Senior Aeroelastic & Rotordynamics Engineer

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 215,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking a hands-on Senior Structural Engineer to own aircraft structural analysis, model GFEMs/DFEMs, and support fleet availability for continuous logistics operations at its South San Francisco facility.

You will apply first-principles analysis, develop fast models, and mentor a small team while coordinating across design, test, reliability, and field operations to ensure airworthiness and mission success.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years experience in structural analysis for aircraft or complex aerospace vehicles.
• Hands-on hardware experience required and demonstrated ownership of a GFEM or system-level model.
• Experience managing contributions from 3–5 engineers and coordinating across disciplines.
• Proficiency with NX, FEMAP/NX Nastran, ANSYS, and Siemens Design Center; scripting in Python or MATLAB.
• Solid classical stress and dynamics background with Roark/Bruhn-level calculations.
• Experience correlating models to test data and maintaining model accuracy within engineering tolerances.
• Clear owner mentality, rapid decision cadence, and rigorous documentation.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the top-level GFEM and enforce standards for model fidelity and validation.
• Produce rapid analysis studies and drive design trades with lightweight FE models.
• Perform structural sizing, certification analyses, and evaluate loads, vibration, and deflections.
• Plan tests, instrumentation, and post-test correlation to achieve model agreement.
• Lead root-cause investigations for failures and coordinate corrective actions.
• Collaborate daily with multiple teams and mentor 3–5 contributors on FEM practices.
• Support field tests and flight campaigns, providing rapid fixes to preserve schedules.
• Aim for measurable outcomes: reduced cost per delivery, improved GFEM cadence, and fewer fleet failures.

Skills

GFEM

Structural analysis

Hands-on hardware

Tools

NX

FEMAP/NX Nastran

ANSYS

Siemens Design Center

Python

MATLAB

Job description

Zipline is seeking a hands-on Senior Structural Engineer to own aircraft structural analysis, model GFEMs/DFEMs, and support fleet availability for continuous logistics operations at its South San Francisco facility.

You will apply first-principles analysis, develop fast models, and mentor a small team while coordinating across design, test, reliability, and field operations to ensure airworthiness and mission success.