Vehicle Dynamics and Control Test Engineer

Honda Research Institute USA, Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Honda Research Institute USA, Inc. in San Luis Obispo, CA seeks a Vehicle Dynamics and Control Test Engineer to join the team developing the new eVTOL vehicle. You will help create flight dynamics models, analyze stability, and support PFCS and AFCS control laws through desktop simulations.

The role involves flight-test planning across desktop, piloted-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, and actual flight tests, plus extending test infrastructure and collaborating across the VDC team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in a relevant engineering field; master's preferred.
• 3+ years in fixed-wing or rotorcraft modeling, flight control, or testing.
• Solid understanding of rotorcraft and fixed-wing dynamics; stability and handling qualities.
• Experience with V&V testing infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Identify key testing conditions for desktop, piloted-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, and flight test.
• Coordinate, conduct, and summarize results of tests across platforms.
• Create/review verification tests for handling qualities and control laws.
• Extend testing infrastructure to improve capability and efficiency.

Skills

Vehicle dynamics knowledge

Flight test planning

Analytical problem-solving

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Engineering

Master's Degree preferred

Tools

MATLAB

Simulink

DSPACE

Job description

Job Number: P25F20

eVTOL development is an exciting and challenging new domain. Compared with existing helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft, eVTOL vehicle development has much less history and many more challenges.

San Luis Obispo, CA

As a Vehicle Dynamics and Control Test Engineer, you would be a member of the Vehicle Dynamics and Control Team working on Honda's new eVTOL vehicle. The Vehicle Dynamics and Control Team is responsible for developing vehicle flight dynamics models, conducting stability and control analysis, providing guidance to support configuration design and trade-off studies, as well as designing the vehicle flight control laws for the Primary Flight Control System (PFCS) and the Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS).

Vehicle Dynamics and Control team members have a diverse range of experience, work closely together, and adjust priorities often based on lessons learned tackling the challenges in this new eVTOL domain. Testing in this role encompasses flight control law testing on desktop simulations, in our piloted simulator, in our hardware-in-the-loop facility, and during flight test. The ideal candidate for this position has a strong working knowledge of vehicle dynamics, stability, and control; understands that application of previous experiences needs to be adjusted to tackle the challenges in this new domain; and enjoys proactively seeking solutions to these technical challenges.

Key Responsibilities

• Working with other team members to identify key testing conditions for desktop, pilot-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, and flight test.
• Coordinating, conducting, and summarizing the results from desktop, piloted-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, and flight tests.
• Creating and/or reviewing verification tests for handling qualities, vehicle flight control laws, system identification, etc. based on requirements.
• Extend our existing testing infrastructure to increase capability and/or testing efficiency.

The position requires compliance with USA Export Conrtol regulations

Candidate is required to be a "U.S. Person" as defined by 22 C.F.R. (U.S. Citizen, lawful permanent resitdent, refugee, or asylee)

Minimum Qualifications

• A Bachelor's Degree in a relevant engineering area, with a Master's Degree preferred.
• 3+ years of experience with fixed-wing or rotorcraft, modeling, flight control development, or testing in the aerospace industry.
• A general understanding of rotorcraft and/or fixed-wing flight dynamics including knowledge of stability and control principles and application of handling qualities criteria.
• Experience utilizing and/or developing V&V Testing infrastructure and capabilities.
• Fluency in Matlab and Simulink is required.
• Reporting onsite in San Luis Obispo County

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience with dSPACE testing infrastructure is preferred.
• Ability to quickly and comprehensively read, understand, and interpret results of engineering analyses and tests.
• Desire to work in a team-centric environment and collaboratively work with others daily.
• Strong communication and excellent problem-solving skills.

Desired Start Date

11/1/2026

Position Keywords

eVTOL, Vehicle Dynamics and Control Test Engineer, MATLAB, Simulink, DSPACE