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Salary: USD 145,000 - 215,000 / annual
Firestorm is building expeditionary defense manufacturing and autonomous systems, addressing the challenge that modern warfighters need systems that are affordable, fast to produce, and sustainable at scale. The company develops mission-adaptable unmanned aerial systems and deployable microfactories (xCell) to enable rapid capability deployment.
As Principal Aerospace Engineer, you will lead development of Firestorm's in-house Multidisciplinary Design, Analysis, and Optimization (MDAO) tool—the core framework for designing next-generation unmanned aircraft. This tool integrates aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, mass properties, stability & control, performance, and cost models into a unified, automated design environment.
Key responsibilities include:
- Architect and develop the MDAO framework (e.g., OpenMDAO-based), including data structures, solver strategies, and workflow orchestration
- Build and integrate discipline analysis modules: aerodynamics (vortex-lattice, panel, CFD), propulsion performance, structures/mass properties, stability & control, mission analysis
- Create parametric geometry pipelines (OpenVSP or CAD-integrated) for rapid exploration of unconventional UAS configurations
- Implement gradient-based and gradient-free optimization, design of experiments, and surrogate modeling
- Validate tool outputs against wind tunnel, flight test, and higher-fidelity analysis; quantify model uncertainty
- Execute vehicle-level trade studies and sizing analyses for product development and customer-driven changes
- Collaborate cross-functionally with airframe, propulsion, manufacturing, and autonomy teams to embed real-world constraints, including additive manufacturing considerations
- Establish best practices for version control, testing, documentation, and CI/CD for engineering software
Required: Bachelor's in Aerospace Engineering or related field with 8+ years experience (or Master's with 6+). Strong foundation in aircraft conceptual/preliminary design, aerodynamics, flight performance, stability & control. Proficiency in Python and experience developing engineering analysis software. Hands-on experience with MDAO frameworks (OpenMDAO, ModelCenter, Dakota, SUAVE) or demonstrated multidisciplinary analysis pipeline development. Experience with numerical optimization and design space exploration. Ability to operate in fast-paced, iterative environments. U.S. Person status (Citizen or Permanent Resident) required due to ITAR.
Preferred: Master's or PhD in Aerospace Engineering (MDAO, aircraft design, or applied optimization focus). Experience with OpenVSP, AVL, XFOIL, SU2, Fluent, STAR-CCM+, NASTRAN. Surrogate modeling, uncertainty quantification, or gradient-based optimization with analytic derivatives. Prior small UAS design experience (Group 2–3). Design for additive manufacturing familiarity. Software engineering practices (Git, CI/CD, unit testing, containerized/HPC environments).
Role is in-office in San Diego; relocation assistance available. Must lift up to 25 lbs, wear PPE as required, and travel up to 25% domestically for field operations and testing.
