Structures Design Engineer - End-to-End, Composite Aircraft

Swarm Aero; Fayetteville (AR); On-site; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity stake

Competitive salary

Healthcare coverage

401k plan

PTO & sick leave

Wellness stipend

Office lunch

Parental leave

Impactful mission

Top engineers team

Job summary

Swarm Aero is building a Group 5 autonomous aircraft and seeks a structures design engineer to own parts from concept through first article. You will design real hardware including wings, fuselage, and major joints, and drive it through analysis, drawings, and vendor coordination.

You will work in CAD/FEA daily, coordinating with manufacturing to ensure design is buildable and verified by testing. The role emphasizes end-to-end ownership and rapid iteration in a small, high-impact team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering (advanced degree preferred).
• 5+ years of experience in composite structure design for aircraft, spacecraft, or similar vehicles.
• Deep understanding of composite and metal material properties, laminate design, bonding techniques.
• Strong CAD skills, especially Siemens NX and Fibersim.
• Willingness to travel to Oxnard headquarters for onsite collaboration.

Responsibilities

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

Skills

CAD design

FEA analysis

Composite structures

DoD standards

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s in Aerospace Engineering or Mechanical Eng

Tools

Siemens NX

Fibersim

Teamcenter

Job description

Swarm Aero is building a Group 5 autonomous aircraft and seeks a structures design engineer to own parts from concept through first article. You will design real hardware including wings, fuselage, and major joints, and drive it through analysis, drawings, and vendor coordination.

You will work in CAD/FEA daily, coordinating with manufacturing to ensure design is buildable and verified by testing. The role emphasizes end-to-end ownership and rapid iteration in a small, high-impact team.