Senior Flight Controls Engineer - Certification Lead

ELECTRA; Manassas (VA); On-site; USD 135,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary and equity

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Generous PTO, sick leave, and company.

Paid winter break

401(k) with immediate vesting

Free catered lunches, coffee, snacks,

Free on-site parking

Job summary

Electra in Manassas, VA seeks a Principal Flight Controls Engineer to serve as the senior technical authority for the EL9 program, guiding certification from design through entry into service.

The role partners with the Flight Controls IPT Lead to drive certification planning, verification strategy, and cross-disciplinary coordination while mentoring engineers and ensuring compliance with safety standards.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Aerospace Engineering or related STEM discipline.
• 10+ years of experience in flight controls or related aerospace systems development.
• Experience supporting aircraft certification and verification activities on safety-critical systems.
• Strong understanding of aircraft flight control systems and architectures.
• Demonstrated experience with certification planning and compliance for aerospace systems.
• Ability to operate as a technical authority and in-house subject-matter expert.
• Excellent communication skills, including authority-facing technical discussions.
• Experience with MATLAB/Simulink-based control development and verification environments.
• Proven ability to collaborate effectively across IPTs and disciplines.

Responsibilities

• Act as the flight controls certification focal for the EL9 program, owning the functional certification approach.
• Lead development and maintenance of the flight controls functional certification plan.
• Translate regulatory requirements and system safety assessments into certifiable flight control functions.
• Provide technical oversight for verification planning and execution across: analysis and simulation, SIL/HIL, ground and flight test.
• Partner with the Flight Controls IPT Lead to support system architecture decisions and assess certification impacts of design changes.
• Support system safety activities, including FHA, PSSA, and SSA alignment.
• Interface with certification authorities and support technical discussions, reviews, and issue resolution.
• Mentor flight controls engineers in certification, verification, and systems thinking.
• Coordinate across disciplines including systems engineering, safety, software, propulsion, and flight test.
• Support certification closure and entry-into-service readiness.

Skills

Flight controls

Systems engineering

Leadership

Certification planning

Technical authority

Education

B.S. in Aerospace Engineering

Tools

MATLAB/Simulink

Job description

Electra in Manassas, VA seeks a Principal Flight Controls Engineer to serve as the senior technical authority for the EL9 program, guiding certification from design through entry into service.

The role partners with the Flight Controls IPT Lead to drive certification planning, verification strategy, and cross-disciplinary coordination while mentoring engineers and ensuring compliance with safety standards.