Sr. Stress Analyst

Insight Global; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Anduril Industries seeks a Structural Analysis Engineer to evaluate aircraft structures, ensuring safety, light weight, and robustness under demanding environments. The role focuses on FEA across metallic and composite structures, with close collaboration to prototype hardware throughout the product lifecycle.

The ideal candidate will have 5+ years of aerospace experience, hands-on FEA in aerospace settings, and proficiency with FEMAP, NASTRAN, and ANSYS.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• 5+ years of aerospace structural analysis, aircraft structures, or stress analysis experience.
• Hands-on FEA experience within aerospace or aircraft environments.
• Experience supporting metallic and/or composite aircraft structures.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate aircraft structures for safety, weight, and performance under demanding environments.
• Perform structural analysis of components, assemblies, and airframes using FEA.
• Develop and maintain FEM models using FEMAP, NASTRAN, and ANSYS.
• Analyze static strength, stiffness, fatigue life, and buckling of metallic/composite structures.
• Validate load paths and generate stress reports for design reviews, manufacturing, testing, and certification.
• Collaborate with manufacturing, flight test, systems integration, and prototype teams.

Skills

FEA

Static analysis

Buckling

Load path

Structural mechanics

Aircraft loads

Hands-on FEA

Education

Bachelor's in Aerospace/Mechanical

Tools

FEMAP

NASTRAN

ANSYS

Job description

Compensation: Flex depending on years of experience

Duration: 6-Month Contract-to-Hire

About the Opportunity

Anduril Industries is a rapidly growing defense technology company developing next-generation autonomous aircraft, drones, and advanced military systems. Their engineering teams are building cutting-edge aerospace platforms from the ground up and are seeking a Structural Analysis Engineer to support aircraft development efforts.

This role is ideal for engineers who enjoy solving complex structural challenges, influencing aircraft design decisions, and working closely with prototype hardware throughout the product lifecycle.

What You'll Be Doing

As a Structural Analysis Engineer, you'll be responsible for evaluating aircraft structures and ensuring they are safe, lightweight, and capable of withstanding demanding operational environments.

Key Responsibilities

Perform structural analysis of aircraft components, assemblies, and airframe structures using Finite Element Analysis (FEA)

Develop and maintain FEM models using:

• FEMAP
• NASTRAN
• ANSYS
• Similar structural analysis tools

Evaluate metallic and composite structures for:

• Static strength
• Stiffness
• Fatigue life
• Buckling

Analyze aircraft loads and load paths to validate structural integrity

Generate stress reports and engineering documentation supporting:

• Design reviews
• Manufacturing
• Testing
• Certification activities

Collaborate with:

• Manufacturing
• Flight Test
• Systems Integration
• Prototype Development Teams

Support prototype builds by investigating:

• Structural issues
• Failures
• Non-conformances

Conduct trade studies focused on:

• Weight reduction
• Performance optimization
• Reliability improvements

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline

Experience

• 5+ years of aerospace structural analysis, aircraft structures, or stress analysis experience
• Hands-on FEA experience within aerospace or aircraft environments
• Experience supporting metallic and/or composite aircraft structures

Technical Skills

Strong proficiency with:

FEMAP (highly preferred)

Strong knowledge of:

• Static Stress Analysis
• Buckling Analysis
• Load Path Analysis
• Structural Mechanics
• Aircraft Loads
• Hand Calculations and Validation Methods

Additional Requirements

• Ability to thrive in a highly collaborative engineering environment
• Eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret Security Clearance

Experience supporting:

• Advanced aircraft development
• Airframe structures
• UAV/UAS platforms
• Defense aerospace programs
• Flight test programs

Strong candidates will have extensive experience with FEMAP, along with a solid background in stress analysis of metallic and composite structures, with metallic structures being a major area of focus.

Why This Opportunity?

• Work on next-generation autonomous aircraft systems
• Gain exposure to prototype builds and flight hardware
• Collaborate directly with multidisciplinary engineering teams
• Make an impact on products that move from concept to flight

If you're passionate about aircraft structures, stress analysis, and advanced aerospace development, this is an opportunity to work on some of the most innovative platforms in the industry.