Flight Controls Engineer
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Oct 27, 2026. First seen by Alion on Oct 6, 2026.
We have an exciting opportunity for a Flight Controls Engineer in the San Diego (Poway, CA) area. In this position, you will play an active role in the design and development of flight controls for cutting-edge next generation unmanned aircraft platforms. Responsibilities include control law design and analysis, physics model generation, and code verification and validation. These responsibilities can span the entire lifecycle of a new aircraft development program, from requirements refinement to detailed design to prototype flight tests. You will have the chance to contribute to a broad swath of novel aircraft platforms ranging from Small Unmanned Air Systems (SUAS) to Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). This position offers competitive benefits, including 9/80 work schedule, medical, dental, employer-matched 401(k), pension plan, employee referral program, and more.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Perform GNC-related tasks for all phases of a new aircraft development program, including use case refinement, requirements development, clean-sheet design, software integration and validation, flight test planning, and analysis of flight data through prototype flight tests.
- Translate the physics of flight control avionics, aerodynamic characteristics, and mass properties of a conceptual aircraft into MATLAB scripts and Simulink models for real-time simulation and automatic code generation.
- Design discrete flight control laws, continually performing stability and flying qualities analyses.
- Independently verify and validate the embedded control law software on the simulated and actual hardware.
- Support development of analytic tools as needed for novel aircraft configurations.
- Participate in internal and customer-facing design reviews, test readiness reviews, flight briefings, and technical interchange meetings.
- Collaborate among peers, as part of a multi-disciplinary team (Systems, Software, Mechanical, and Electrical engineering), to solve unique and complex engineering challenges.
We recognize and appreciate the value and contributions of individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences and welcome all qualified individuals to apply.