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Poseidon Aerospace is building full-size autonomous cargo aircraft capable of carrying two-ton payloads over 1,000+ nautical miles. The company operates from the San Francisco Bay Area with additional locations in Washington DC, Oregon, and Maine, serving remote communities and contested logistics operations.
As Senior Simulation, Test and Validation Engineer, you will own Poseidon's entire test and validation strategy. You will define the hardware-in-the-loop and simulation architecture, establish the validator framework, and create the system test roadmap. You will decide what gets tested at component level, on the bench, on the aircraft, and in flight—and you will build much of it yourself while leading the engineers and technicians who run it.
Key responsibilities include:
- Owning the system test roadmap and strategy for component-level, hardware-in-the-loop, ground test, and flight test validation
- Architecting and bringing up hardware-in-the-loop benches with flight computers, actuators, sensors, and power hardware
- Owning simulation infrastructure including software-in-the-loop, real-time simulation, and integration of GNC and flight sciences models
- Defining the validator framework and release criteria for software and hardware before aircraft deployment
- Designing fault injection and rapid fault-finding campaigns driven by vehicle failure mode analysis
- Collaborating with flight software to define test-mode features needed in flight code
- Converting mission profiles into qualification and life-test plans with appropriate stress levels and duration
- Developing methods to reproduce flight loads and environments on the ground, correlating test conditions to flight data
- Developing health monitoring and anomaly detection from vehicle telemetry for test and operational use
- Leading environmental and durability test campaigns, including work with outside test labs
- Presenting test evidence at flight readiness reviews and supporting certification evidence
- Leading root cause investigations on faults found in test
- Leading and mentoring test engineers and technicians
This is a high-impact role where the test capability you build will be the gateway for every flight software release and avionics box before reaching the aircraft. You will define how the program can fly safely and efficiently.
REQUIREMENTS:
- B.S. in electrical, mechanical, aerospace, or computer engineering, or related field, or equivalent experience
- 5+ years testing complex electromechanical or embedded systems on aircraft, spacecraft, automotive, or comparable vehicles
- Demonstrated experience architecting and bringing up a hardware-in-the-loop or system test capability from scratch
- Owned the test strategy for a hardware and software program through to fielded operation or flight
- Planned and ran environmental, durability, or reliability test campaigns that changed engineering decisions
- Strong software skills in Python and C or C++
- Strong electrical troubleshooting skills across embedded computers, actuation, power, and communications
- Led test engineers or technicians
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Test experience on uncrewed aircraft or fly-by-wire aircraft
- Experience with real-time simulation platforms such as Speedgoat, dSPACE, or NI
- Experience with reliability methods including FMEA, Weibull analysis, and accelerated life testing
- Experience qualifying hardware to DO-160 or MIL-STD-810
- Experience building an iron bird or full-vehicle integration rig
- Experience developing real-time controls for safety-critical systems
- Experience with test evidence for certification or military airworthiness
