Senior Airframe Structures Engineer — Composite & Metal

Swarmaero; Oxnard (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in a high-growth defense tech

Competitive base salary

Medical, dental, vision

PTO and paid sick leave

Monthly wellness stipend

Catered lunch

Parental leave

Impact on national security mission

Collaborative engineering team

Job summary

Swarm Aero is seeking a Structures Design Engineer to own airframe components from concept through first article. You will design and size primary and secondary structures, run FEA analyses, and coordinate with manufacturing to ensure build-ready parts.

You will travel to Oxnard for onsite collaboration and testing, bringing deep knowledge of composites and metals to a small, fast-paced team. The role emphasizes end-to-end ownership, hands-on fabrication experience, and adherence to aviation

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 5+ years of experience in composite structure design for aircraft or similar vehicles.
• Deep understanding of composite and metal materials, laminate design, bonding and joining techniques.
• Strong expertise in CAD software, particularly Siemens NX and Fibersim, or equivalent.
• Experience leading design and analysis of composite structures through product lifecycle.
• Hands-on experience with composite part fabrication and bonding.
• Familiarity with aviation industry standards and DoD certification requirements.

Responsibilities

• Own structural design and sizing for primary and secondary airframe structure (wing, fuselage, empennage, joints).
• Develop loads and criteria; produce sized structure with documented margins.
• Run static, buckling, fatigue, and dynamic analysis in FEA; know when hand calcs are faster.
• Design in composites and metallics; decide material placement by weight, cost, and rate.
• Collaborate with manufacturing on layup design, tooling concepts, and assembly sequence.
• Define and run structural tests from coupons to full-scale static tests; reconcile results with models.
• Support integration of propulsion, landing/recovery, payload bays, and control surface actuation into structure.
• Own parts end-to-end from concept through drawings, vendor coordination, first article, to flight.

Skills

Structural design

FEA analysis

Aviation standards

Travel willingness

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Siemens NX

Fibersim

Teamcenter

Job description

Swarm Aero is seeking a Structures Design Engineer to own airframe components from concept through first article. You will design and size primary and secondary structures, run FEA analyses, and coordinate with manufacturing to ensure build-ready parts.

You will travel to Oxnard for onsite collaboration and testing, bringing deep knowledge of composites and metals to a small, fast-paced team. The role emphasizes end-to-end ownership, hands-on fabrication experience, and adherence to aviation