Sr. Manager, Flight Dynamics

At Wisk, we're transforming the future of urban mobility through safe, all-electric, autonomous flight. We are a passionate team working together toward a sustainable future, solving high-impact problems that have never been solved before. By delivering everyday flight for everyone, we're making it possible to spend less time getting there and more time being there. If you want to be part of shaping the future of mobility, then read on!

We are looking for a Sr. Manager of Flight Dynamics to join our team. The goal of this role at Wisk is to bring experience, skill and capability to the Flight Dynamics team working on the Wisk Gen 6 aircraft team that is bringing a commercial autonomous air taxi to the market.

This is a hybrid work opportunity. At Wisk, this means working onsite at our Mountain View HQ 3 days per week with flexibility for the remainder of the days. 

As part of the Gen 6 aircraft team organization you lead the Flight Dynamics team, responsible for Aircraft modelling, simulation and analysis, covering aircraft performance, stability and control and 6DOF real-time simulation.  

A successful candidate will have direct hands-on experience developing and building type certified aircraft, from initial concept through flight testing and certification, with the technical breadth necessary to interface with all engineering functions such as Systems & Safety Engineering, Hardware, Software, Manufacturing, Test, and Certification. In this role, the candidate must be a highly motivated, self-starting individual with a broad set of skills and never afraid of facing complex technical challenges.

Role Responsibilities:

• Lead a highly skilled engineering team consisting of engineers covering Stability and Control, Vehicle Performance, Vehicle 6DOF and Systems modelling.  

• Define the end-to-end modeling and simulation strategy for Flight Dynamics, not limited to 6DOF, Vehicle stability & trim analysis, Aircraft Performance, and Systems Integration. 

• Develop and maintain Wisk’s in-house tools to perform linear and non-linear stability and control analysis, estimate critical performance parameters, such as range, stall speeds, optimized climb profiles, aerodynamics characteristics, and validate our tools with test data from wind tunnels, subscale aircraft and flight test. 

• Capture the Flight Physics Modelling and Simulation Methodology for Flight Dynamics

• Define the Flight Dynamics Model Validation Strategy including Closed Loop System Validation, incorporation of Flight test and wind tunnel corrections. Set specific goals and objectives for each model to build up to a fully certifiable model set (where appropriate). This role requires driving alignment across Flight Physics, GNC, System Integration, and Flight test teams.

• Establish KPP/Metrics to show Models validation progress and quantify model maturity. 

• Drive technical consensus among other Aircraft SMEs to align on Modelling requirements and expectations across all product teams.

• Set standards for documentation of Aircraft level modelling, documentation, and configuration control of the models vs the overall aircraft design baseline and vehicle and systems description documents. 

• Produce and Review Certification Detailed Design Standards, White Papers and Certification Plans to support certification compliance showing against with FAR Part 21/23/27/91/135 requirements

• Define MDO opportunities, and in-line with SMEs and Chief Engineer office, roll out MDO for Flight Physics and Aircraft Configuration Design as a way to conduct System-Level Trade Studies. Spearhead the adoption of AI-driven surrogate modeling and GPU accelerated solvers (CUDA) to achieve real-time aero-performance analysis.

• Integrate high-priority, cross functional roadblocks identified during Gen 6 flight testing, particularly those occurring at the intersection of non-linear aerodynamics and autonomous control laws.

Requirements:

• 15 years of industry experience in aircraft and/or rotorcraft development, with a Bachelor’s degree; or 12 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 8 years experience; or equivalent experience.

• Understanding of rotorcraft and multirotor aircraft aerodynamics and vehicle stability in all modes of flight.

• Experience with commercial aviation development and Certification as well as rapid development of novel, complex systems.

• Familiarity with aerodynamic data base creation and tools such as CFD, wind tunnel testing, data processing, and flight matching.

• Experience with aerodynamic design and analysis of aircraft to meet performance goals

• Experience creating vehicle 6DOF simulation models that support certification compliance showing. 

• Experience with complex modelling frameworks

• Able to run multiple objective optimizations and trade-off studies for complex aircraft

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• You are excited to learn about the team, and leverage the hard learned lessons of the past 14+ years of eVTOL development here at Wisk.

Desired:

• Aeromechanics and/or rotor dynamics experience

• Familiarity with Matlab/Simulink, Python and C/C++ 

• Familiarity with Jira, Git, or other software product lifecycle management tools

• Been part of a program, or programs, working on a clean sheet novel aircraft from concept design to certification. 

• Electric engine performance analysis and compliance showing

• Previous FAA Part 23/25 and/or Part 27 certification program experience preferred

• FAA Flight Analyst Designated Engineering Representative (DER) for Part 23/25/27 

• Knowledge of rotorcraft performance and the theories associated with propeller and rotor-driven propulsion

Job Type: Full-time

Pay range the company expects to pay: $218,000 - $272,000 per year - The starting base salary within this range for this role varies based on factors such as your geographical location, and your relevant job-related experience that is consistent with a business necessity.

Wisk HQ is located in Mountain View just a couple of hundred feet from Shoreline Lake and its surrounding walking/jogging trails. We offer a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, 9 off Fridays for full-time employees throughout the year, flexible vacation time off, 11 company holidays, a 401(k) plan with 50% company matching vested immediately, commuter assistance, and education assistance. And on top of all that, we also offer a variety of perks such as free catered lunches, flight lessons, wellness allowances, snacks, drinks, employee referral bonus, charitable giving match, patent bonus program, and more.