Role
Sorian Aerospace is building autonomous supersonic aircraft for advanced training and test. Sandman is an unmanned supersonic trainer. Unforgiven is a fighter-class advanced trainer designed for piloted and unmanned operation. Both aircraft share a common foundation across autonomy, avionics, flight controls, and aircraft systems.
As a Structures Engineer, you’ll design and analyze primary and secondary aircraft structure, then support that work through manufacturing, test, and aircraft integration. You’ll work across two different supersonic aircraft classes and collaborate closely with manufacturing and the rest of the vehicle team.
This is a high-ownership, hands-on role for someone who wants their analysis and design decisions tested in real hardware.
Responsibilities
- Design and analyze primary and secondary aircraft structure
- Evaluate load paths, stiffness, strength, stability, fatigue, and margins
- Collaborate with manufacturing to ensure parts are buildable, inspectable, and fixturable
- Plan structural tests, review data, and resolve discrepancies and failure modes
- Manage mass, interfaces, and configuration changes within your scope
- Carry structural work from analysis and design through manufacturing support, test, and aircraft integration
Requirements
- 3–7 years of experience in airframe structures, preferably on flight hardware
- Proficiency in CAD (e.g., CATIA, NX, SolidWorks) and FEA (e.g., NASTRAN, HyperMesh)
- Familiarity with aerospace materials, composite layups, and joining methods
- Understanding of load paths, margin tracking, and structural test methods
- Comfortable working from first principles under real development constraints
- U.S. citizenship or permanent residency required
Results
- Deliver structural designs supported by sound analysis and test evidence
- Create clean, lightweight, manufacturable designs under demanding constraints
- Help build a traceable structural engineering process that scales across aircraft programs
Availability
Full-time, based in Long Beach, CA
Some evenings and weekends may be required during build, integration, or test events
Compensation Range
$120,000–$180,000 base salary
- meaningful equity
- complete healthcare benefits for you and your dependents
Company Core Values
We run it hotter. We run it faster.
We design what flies - and we build what we design.
We value engineers who care about mass, margin, and manufacturability.
To apply: Email your resume and a short write-up on a structural component you’ve designed or analyzed - what worked, what failed, and what you learned - to structures@sorianaero.com or click the “Apply Now” button below.