Flight Controls and Modeling Engineer - Defense

About Us: 

Merlin is an early-stage autonomy company, building software to control sophisticated transportation systems. Our mission here at Merlin Labs is to develop hardware and software solutions that deliver the capability for aircraft to fly useful missions autonomously and safely. Our first product will be a certified system to bring automation to existing fixed wing aircraft. 

We’re backed by some of the top institutional venture capitalists in the country, our headquarters are located in Boston with hubs in Denver, Los Angeles and the Mojave Desert. Come join our diverse, world class team, made up of people from places like Google, Airbus, Boeing, UTC, the US Navy, and the US Air Force.

About You:

You are an experienced flight controls simulation engineer who wants to contribute to making airplanes that fly themselves. You are familiar with fixed wing aircraft and the classical and modern methods used to control them automatically. You know how to use industry standard tools for this work, and you are excited to work on applying them to a new and novel application.

The Role:

• Help create the simulation tools needed for development and testing (aircraft nonlinear model (6-DOF) update using system identification techniques, etc) - DOD projects
• Past experience has emparted a thorough understanding of aircraft flight dynamics and modeling processes
• Participate in flight test and flight data analysis to validate aircraft dynamics, actuator and LRU modeling
• Integrate and tune automatic flight controls for our aircraft autonomy system on various aircraft - DOD projects
• Write Requirements for high level and low level automated flight control functions and integration for different aircraft types
• Verify control law performance on multiple aircraft.
• Create, test, and verify simulink control law and system logic/processing models according to Merlin’s development standards, and participate in certification activities.
• Collaborate across Merlin to develop novel, certifiable systems to solve the toughest problems in aviation and autonomy.

Qualifications:

• BS in Aerospace/Mechanical/Electrical Engineering
• 5+ years of experience developing aircraft simulations using system identification of flight test data to facilitate the rapid design and testing of flight control systems
• Experience developing and certifying control systems for fixed wing aircraft, with demonstrated understanding of fixed wing aircraft dynamics, integration and certification tasks
• Experience decomposing systems requirements into high level requirements and low level requirements/models, and knowledge of how to define integration/performance requirements for automatic flight control systems integration with the other areas of the avionics system
• Experience working in Model Based Development and certification of flight control systems, including proficiency in MATLAB/Simulink or another model-based development toolset
• Experience designing, implementing, and testing software for real-time systems
• Experience developing certified software under RTCA DO-178

Bonus:

• MS/PhD in Aerospace Engineering and/or Controls
• Experience analyzing military guidance materials for impact on safety of flight and automatic control system design
• Flight Test experience writing test cards and integrating test systems for automated flight controls into various aircraft, to validate aircraft models, validate control system performance and perform failure testing
• Pilot license
• Experience working in an Agile development environment with open-source software tools

Merlin Labs offers an innovative, entrepreneurial, and team-focused startup environment. We also offer a top-notch benefits package (health, dental, life, unlimited vacation, and 401k with match) and work/life integration. Being part of the Merlin team allows you to become part of a small team that supports professional development while working together to achieve our mission.

Merlin Labs is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability status. All job offers are contingent upon the candidate passing background, export control and reference checks. 

Merlin Labs does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from candidates.