Senior CFD Lead: Missile Aerodynamics & Performance

Zone 5 Tech; San Luis Obispo (CA); On-site; USD 161,000 - 238,000; Full time

Job summary

Zone 5 Technologies seeks a CFD Lead to head advanced aerodynamic analysis for air‑launched effects and high‑speed vehicles. You will guide wind‑tunnel and flight test correlation, develop CFD standards, and mentor a team of engineers in CFD methodologies.

You'll collaborate across Design, Propulsion, GNC, and Systems Engineering to translate data into reliable, fielded performance, while preparing for design reviews and program milestones under DoD compliance.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of CFD leadership in a product‑driven defense environment.
• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering; Master's preferred.
• Proficiency with CFD solvers (CFD++, OVERFLOW, FUN3D, STAR‑CCM+, ANSYS Fluent) and meshing tools (Pointwise, ANSA, Chimera Grid Tools).
• Experience validating CFD against wind tunnel/flight data; hands-on with flight hardware.

Responsibilities

• Lead high‑fidelity CFD analyses (RANS, URANS, DES) across speed regimes to characterize aerodynamic performance of missiles and interceptors.
• Establish CFD standards and document procedures for aerodynamic data development and data use in GNC/trajectory analysis.
• Participate in program‑level resource allocation, timeline, and deliverable estimates.
• Validate CFD models against wind tunnel and flight test data; lead root‑cause investigations of discrepancies.
• Develop mesh generation and grid convergence techniques for complex, high‑speed geometries.
• Collaborate with Design, Propulsion, GNC, Analysis, and Systems Engineering to integrate aerodynamic data into vehicle design.

Skills

CFD leadership

RANS/URANS/DES

Python/MATLAB

Linux HPC

Git/SVN

6-DOF trajectory

Technical communication

DoD clearance

Education

Bachelor's in Aerospace/Mechanical

Master's preferred

Tools

CFD++

OVERFLOW

FUN3D

STAR-CCM+

ANSYS Fluent

Pointwise

ANSA

Chimera Grid Tools

ParaView/FieldView

ANSYS Workbench

Job description

Zone 5 Technologies seeks a CFD Lead to head advanced aerodynamic analysis for air‑launched effects and high‑speed vehicles. You will guide wind‑tunnel and flight test correlation, develop CFD standards, and mentor a team of engineers in CFD methodologies.

You'll collaborate across Design, Propulsion, GNC, and Systems Engineering to translate data into reliable, fielded performance, while preparing for design reviews and program milestones under DoD compliance.