Senior Staff Engineer, Flight Control Actuation Systems (RX) (R5999)

On-site

Posted about 1 month ago

RaptorX

AI summary

The Senior Staff Engineer will design flight control actuation systems for UAV fighter aircraft, managing both the technical aspects and integration with hardware suppliers throughout the development process.

Eligible from: US only

Job Description

Job Description:

As a Staff or Senior Staff Engineer (L4/L5), you will take full technical ownership of flight control actuation system design for a Group 5 UAV fighter aircraft. You will work from first principles to define requirements, resolve actuator and integration trades, and drive qualified flight-control actuation hardware from design through production support. This position requires a balance of technical rigor, rapid decision-making, and hands-on engineering to efficiently transition concepts into operational capability. The ideal candidate is comfortable solving complex problems, taking ownership, working within an accelerated aircraft development environment, and is motivated by getting meaningful capability into the hands of operators quickly.

Responsibilities

What you'll do:

System Ownership: Define, allocate, and own the FCAS requirements and verification traceability matrix.

Actuator Performance: Design and analyze control surface actuation systems, including sizing, dynamic response, bandwidth, redundancy, and failure modes.

Control-Law Integration: Drive the control law-actuator interface with Flight Controls and Vehicle Management Systems, including actuator dynamics modeling and control surface authority requirements.

Power and Thermal Integration: Drive actuator power source architecture and load analysis with EPS and hydraulic systems leads, and resolve actuator heat-generation and local thermal-load interfaces with thermal management.

Structural Integration: Drive coordination of control surface hinge moments and actuator reaction loads with structures.

Qualification and Hardware Delivery: Define and execute FCAS qualification test plans per MIL-HDBK-516 and MIL-STD-810, using test results to mature qualified flight-control actuation hardware.

Program Execution: Lead FCAS design-maturity and qualification-status reviews at SRR, PDR, and CDR.

Requirements

Required qualifications:

Clearance required: US Citizens Only & Must have an Active Secret or higher clearance.

Experience: 8 to 15 years in flight control actuation system design on fixed-wing aircraft.

Education: B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.

Hardware and Supplier Execution: Proven track record sourcing COTS/custom aerospace components, driving suppliers to schedule, and assembling benchtop or vehicle-level test setups.

Autonomy: Demonstrated ability to self-direct, prioritize technical tasks without oversight, and deliver functional hardware under tight timelines.

Dynamic Performance: Demonstrated experience with actuator dynamic performance analysis, including bandwidth, response, stability margins, failure mode analysis, and redundancy analysis.

Integration: Experience coordinating with flight controls and VMS engineers on actuator-control law integration.

Standards and Reviews: Familiarity with MIL-HDBK-516 and MIL-STD-810 as applied to flight control actuation, and experience supporting SRR, PDR, and CDR on a DoD or fighter-class aircraft program.

Preferred qualifications:

Prior fighter or fighter-adjacent program experience, manned or unmanned.

Unmanned or autonomous flight control experience, including the redundancy philosophy differences from manned aircraft.

Experience with EMA or EHA control surface actuators.

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About the job

Posted on: Sep 22, 2026
Job type: Full-time
Location: Dallas, TexasOn-site

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Senior Staff Engineer, Flight Control Actuation Systems (RX) (R5999)

AI summary

Job Description

Responsibilities

What you'll do:

Requirements

Required qualifications:

Preferred qualifications:

Ready to Apply?

About the job

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