Senior Actuation Engineer

About Us

Skydweller Aero Inc. is a transatlantic, cutting-edge aerospace company developing solar-powered aircraft solutions capable of perpetual flight while carrying heavy and powerful payloads. Building on technology from the longest continuous renewably powered flight program in history, this fast-growing company is creating a new class of unmanned aircraft. It combines the persistence of geosynchronous satellites with the sensing capabilities and flexibility of a large airborne platform. Skydweller Aero Inc. has its global and US headquarters in Oklahoma City, with European operations headquartered in Spain.

Role Summary

We are looking for a Senior Actuation Engineer to be the responsible engineer for our actuation products and for the actuation capabilities of our solar-powered unmanned aircraft. You will own both from requirements and architecture through trade studies, design, supplier management, customer support, verification and installation, whether the actuator is used on its own or integrated on the aircraft. You will keep requirements, interfaces and verification evidence aligned across the product and the aircraft. This role can be based in Oklahoma City, OK (US) or Spain.

Responsibilities

• Act as responsible engineer for our actuation products and for the actuation capabilities of our aircraft.

• Own the design and design changes of a complete electromechanical actuator (motor, transmission, output stage, sensing, motor control, housing, and the interfaces between them), including the effect on requirements, suppliers and verification.

• Perform trade studies of electromechanical actuation approaches for actuators and the control surfaces they drive.

• Derive, allocate and maintain the requirements baseline, including sizing and performance from loads, rates, redundancy, environmental constraints and the concept of operations, with traceability to design and verification.

• Define the actuator architecture and its mechanical, electrical and control interfaces with the aircraft.

• Perform preliminary design to validate requirements and support make/buy decisions for actuators, motors and motion control devices.

• Direct mechanical and electrical designers during detailed design of the actuator and related hardware.

• Manage subcontractors from contracting through requirements, testing and delivery.

• Work with customers of the actuation products on requirements, interfaces, integration and in-service support.

• Define and close verification for the actuator and for each actuation subsystem, including acceptance tests and laboratory and aircraft testing.

• Create installation and checkout procedures for the actuator as a product and as installed on the aircraft.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Electrical or Mechatronics Engineering, or a related field.

• 8+ years of experience in aerospace or defense, designing, building and testing motion control or actuation systems.

• Proven experience owning the design of electromechanical actuators or similar motion control products, from requirements through verification.

• Hands-on testing experience in support of hardware verification for an aerospace system.

• Experience integrating software and hardware in flight-critical or safety-critical systems.

• Strong understanding of motors, motor controllers, drive mechanisms and gearboxes.

• Experience managing suppliers or subcontractors and working directly with customers.

• Fluent English (written and spoken).

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Electrical or Mechatronics Engineering.

• 10+ years of experience in aerospace or defense actuation systems.

• Experience applying systems engineering to a hardware system: requirements derivation and traceability, interface definition and verification planning.

• Experience with model-based systems engineering on a complex system, including architecture, interfaces and the link from requirements to verification.

• Familiarity with ARP5754 for electromechanical actuation and ARP4754 for aircraft and system development.

• Experience in hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing or in a system integration laboratory, in aerospace or another industry such as automotive, robotics or medical.

• Experience designing test stations for verification testing, including harnesses, special test equipment, rack design, bills of materials and equipment procurement.

• Experience with analog and digital converters, power supply components, analog troubleshooting, signal integrity, layout and grounding.

• Applied experience with hard real-time operating systems and embedded systems.

Preferred Tools

• Requirements management: Polarion ALM preferred; DOORS or similar tools welcome.

• Model-based systems engineering: Cameo Systems Modeler, Capella, SCADE Architect, Enterprise Architect or similar.

• Engineering: MATLAB / Simulink, CATIA V5, Python.

• Collaboration: Jira, Confluence.

Please Note

• Export control requirement: This position requires access to information subject to US export control regulations (ITAR/EAR). Applicants must be a U.S. person: a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident (green card holder), or a person granted asylum or refugee status.

• One application per candidate: Please apply to one position only. If you are interested in other open roles, list them in the Notes section of your application.

• Check your spam folder: We use BambooHR, a third-party recruiting platform, to contact candidates. Please check your spam or junk folder regularly so you don’t miss our messages.

• English CV: Please submit your resume in English.

Company Benefits

• Health insurance: Medical, dental and vision coverage for all full-time employees.

• Paid time off: Vacation, sick leave and personal days.

• 401(k) retirement plan: A 401(k) plan to help you save for retirement.

• Flexible schedules: Flexible working hours to support a healthy work-life balance.

• Professional development: Training, education and tuition reimbursement opportunities to help you grow your skills and career.

• Stock options: Full-time employees may be eligible for stock options after one year of service.

• Performance bonuses: Bonus opportunities that reward individual and company performance.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Skydweller Aero Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law, subject to the export control requirements above.

Accommodations

If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please contact us at [email protected]

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