Senior/Principal Lead Delivery Engineer — Aerospace

Luminary Cloud; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Luminary Cloud is hiring a Senior/Principal Lead Delivery Engineer for its aerospace sector in San Mateo, CA. This full-time position requires 5-10 years of aerospace experience, where you will manage customer relationships while leading delivery teams. You should possess strong Python scripting and AI/ML skills, with a focus on multi-physics in aerospace disciplines. An advanced degree is preferred. Candidates must be U.S. citizens or qualified individuals. Luminary offers a dynamic work environment and competitive compensation.

Qualifications

• 5–10 years of experience in a technical role in aerospace engineering.
• Generalist depth across multiple aerospace disciplines.
• Strong hands-on engineering chops, familiar with Python and AI/ML workflows.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end customer outcomes across aerospace accounts.
• Author SOWs and ensure delivery accountability.
• Lead a value delivery team and set technical direction.

Skills

Aerospace engineering experience

Multi-physics fluency

Python and scripting skills

AI/ML knowledge applied to engineering

Leadership in technical teams

Exceptional communication

Education

Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Simulation tools

Job description

Senior/Principal Lead Delivery Engineer — Aerospace

Full-time position | San Mateo, CA (Onsite)

Note: In accordance with export control regulations, this position requires candidates to qualify as a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual as defined under 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3)). For engagements with cleared customers, an active or obtainable U.S. security clearance is preferred but not required.

JOIN THE REVOLUTION IN ENGINEERING INNOVATION

Luminary helps engineering companies be more competitive by getting to market faster, creating better products, and reducing development risk. We do this through our Physics AI platform — the fastest and easiest way to build and deploy models that understand and instantly predict physical reality with precision. Our customers span industries from automotive and aerospace to defense, industrial, semiconductors, and energy — ranging from hyper‑growth startups to Fortune 100 enterprises. Luminary is a Series B company headquartered in San Mateo, California.

YOUR IMPACT

As the Senior/Principal Lead Delivery Engineer for Aerospace, you own customer outcomes for Luminary's aerospace engagements — spanning established OEMs and the next generation building the future of flight and space. You are a dual hat — project manager and product manager — leading a matrixed value delivery team that translates the hardest problems in aircraft design, propulsion, aeroelasticity, and certification‑relevant analysis and more into Physics AI solutions. You partner with the GTM team on account engagement and growth.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Own end-to-end customer outcomes across new and existing aerospace accounts — from discovery and use case scoping through model development, deployment, and embedding into customer engineering workflows.
• Author Statements of Work (SOWs), educate customers on the engagement plan, and own delivery accountability against them.
• Lead a value delivery team in a matrix structure: Applications Engineers, Applied AI/ML Scientists, Data and Platform Engineers, and selected product engineers. Set technical direction, sequence the work, remove blockers.
• Operate as a dual hat — project manager and product manager — running sprints, milestones, and risk while also choosing the right use cases and shaping the product intuition for what to build next.
• Stay hands‑on‑keyboard where it matters. Debug a model, restructure a data pipeline, prototype a workflow integration. Lead from the front, not from slides.
• Embrace co‑engineering: work side‑by‑side with customers on use case development, sharing knowledge and building trust through visible, collaborative work.
• Partner with GTM team on new account engagement, GTM‑to‑delivery handoff, and account growth.
• Bring market and customer signal back to Product and Research, directly shaping Luminary's roadmap for aerospace use cases.

WHAT YOU BRING

• 5–10 years of experience in a technical role in aerospace — aerospace OEMs, eVTOL/UAM, space, propulsion, or aerospace‑adjacent engineering software. Principal‑level candidates have an extensive track record in aerospace.
• Multi‑physics fluency across aerospace disciplines: aerodynamics, structural mechanics, aeroelasticity, propulsion, thermal‑structural coupling, composites, or multi‑physics simulation. Generalist depth across several disciplines is more valuable than world‑class depth in one.
• U.S. Person required.
• Strong hands‑on engineering chops — Python, scripting, simulation tools, and AI/ML workflows.
• Working knowledge of AI/ML applied to engineering — surrogate modeling, neural operators, physics‑informed ML, or digital twins.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross‑functional technical teams without direct authority.
• Product instinct, customer‑facing presence, exceptional communication.
• Self‑starter, persistent through iteration, willing to travel 10–25% to customer sites.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Aerospace, Mechanical, or related field.
• Prior experience at commercial aerospace OEMs (Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier, Embraer, Textron), eVTOL/UAM (Joby, Archer, Wisk, Beta, Lilium), space (SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, Relativity, Stoke), or propulsion (Rolls‑Royce, GE Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, Safran).
• Hands‑on experience with CFD, FEA, aeroelasticity, MDO, or certification‑relevant analysis.
• Understanding of how AI‑driven simulation integrates into aerospace development and certification workflows.
• Active or obtainable U.S. security clearance for engagements with cleared aerospace customers.