Principal Airframe Engineer - IPT Lead [AERO]

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with a multi-product portfolio that gives the ultimate advantage—domain dominance. The company's products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly, and stay ahead of evolving threats.
CHAOS Industries was founded in 2022 and has raised a total of $1 billion in funding from leading investors, including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, and London. For more information, please visit www.chaosinc.com.
Role Overview:
We are seeking an experienced Principal Airframe Engineer to lead airframe structural design and development for a Massed Modular Aircraft (MMA) program, supporting a platform architecture designed for low-cost, high-rate, distributed production. This role owns the airframe structural design approach from concept through qualification and production transition, with particular emphasis on modularity, producibility, and design-for-mass-manufacture principles that enable rapid, scalable build rates across multiple production sites or partners. The ideal candidate brings deep aircraft structures expertise combined with a strong producibility/manufacturing mindset suited to attritable, low-cost, or distributed-production aircraft concepts, rather than traditional low-rate, highly customized airframe programs.
Responsibilities:
Lead the structural design and architecture of a modular airframe system, including primary and secondary structure, load paths, and major structural interfaces between modules/sections.
Define and enforce a modular design architecture that supports interchangeable sections/subassemblies, common interfaces, and scalable configuration variants across the platform family.
Own structural trade studies (material selection, joining methods, load path optimization) balancing performance, weight, cost, and producibility at scale.
Ensure structural design integrates cleanly with propulsion, avionics, payload, and subsystem installations across modular interface boundaries.
Apply design-for-manufacture and design-for-assembly (DFM/DFA) principles throughout the structural design process to enable high-rate, low-touch-labor production.
Partner with Manufacturing Engineering to define producible joint designs, tooling concepts, and assembly sequences compatible with distributed or multi-site production.
Drive design decisions that reduce part count, fastener count, and non-recurring tooling complexity without compromising structural integrity or certification/airworthiness requirements.
Support make/buy and sourcing strategy discussions with Supply Chain to ensure structural designs are compatible with available/scalable material and fabrication sources.
Lead or oversee structural analysis (static strength, fatigue/damage tolerance, dynamic loads) supporting design maturity and airworthiness substantiation.
Define and execute the structural test program (coupon, element, component, and full-scale static/fatigue testing) required to substantiate the design.
Support airworthiness qualification activities in accordance with applicable military airworthiness criteria (e.g., MIL-HDBK-516) and/or civil-derivative standards as applicable to the program's certification basis.
Maintain structural analysis and substantiation documentation to support government and internal design reviews.
Serve as the senior technical authority for airframe structures on the program, representing structures at Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR), and government technical interchange meetings.
Partner with Systems Engineering, Program Management, Manufacturing, Quality, and Supply Chain to align structural design maturity with program schedule and cost targets.
Identify and manage structural/technical risks, including material supply risk, fatigue/damage tolerance uncertainty, and producibility risk at scale.
Minimum Requirements:
Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related discipline; advanced degree preferred.
15+ years of aircraft structural/airframe design experience, including demonstrated ownership of structural design from concept through qualification/production.
Strong background in structural analysis methods (static strength, fatigue, damage tolerance) and associated analysis tools (e.g., NASTRAN, FEMAP, or equivalent FEA tools).
Demonstrated experience applying design-for-manufacture/design-for-assembly principles to reduce production cost and complexity at scale.
Experience with composite and/or advanced joining methods (e.g., bonding, friction stir welding) suited to high-rate production.
Experience supporting structural substantiation for military and/or civil airworthiness requirements.
Familiarity with MIL-HDBK-516 (Airworthiness Certification Criteria) or equivalent military airworthiness processes.
Preferred Requirements:
Direct experience with modular, attritable, low-cost, or mass-producible aircraft/unmanned aircraft system (UAS) programs.
Ability to obtain/maintain Secret/Top Secret/SCI clearance
Salary Range: $200,000 - $320,000
Why CHAOS?
Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company
Additional benefits: 401k (+ 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more
Our Perks: Free daily lunch while you're working onsite, fully-stocked kitchen, unlimited PTO, casual dress code
Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and (coming soon!) annual bonuses
Team Growth: 500+ employees and counting across 5 global offices
[ENTER SALARY/HOURLY RANGE]
The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity, and benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations.
Recruiting Agencies: CHAOS Industries does not accept unsolicited resumes or outreach. Unsolicited submissions will not be reviewed or compensated.
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