Manager, Aircraft Design & Performance

Pivotal•Palo Alto, CA

3d•$195,000 - $220,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Aeromechanical team at Pivotal is seeking a highly experienced and motivated Manager, Aircraft Design & Performance to join our team. This role sits at the center of aircraft development and works closely with propulsion, structures, flight controls, manufacturing, test, and executive leadership teams to shape the direction of future aircraft platforms.

Requirements

Masterâ€™s degree in aerospace or mechanical engineering or equivalent field
Experience with eVTOL, UAV, or unconventional aircraft configurations.
Experience developing conceptual and preliminary aircraft sizing tools.
Experience with CFD and aerospace analysis tools such as STAR-CCM+, XFLR5/FLOW5, OpenVSP, Simulia/3DEXPERIENCE, MATLAB, or Python.
Flight test, prototype development, or rapid hardware iteration experience.
Experience building internal engineering tools and automation workflows.
Experience balancing technical performance with manufacturing and operational constraints.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated experience in early aircraft development/sizing.
Comfortable owning major aircraft-level decisions with incomplete information.
Naturally gravitates toward first-principles engineering and rapid iteration.
Strong systems thinker capable of connecting aerodynamics, structures, propulsion, controls, and operations into a cohesive vehicle design.
Excited by ambiguity, rapid development cycles, and building unconventional aircraft with small, high-output teams.

Responsibilities

Lead aircraft-level design, sizing, and performance development for electric aircraft platforms.
Own multidisciplinary vehicle trade studies including weight, aerodynamics, propulsion integration, mission performance, stability, controllability, thermal constraints, manufacturability, and operational capability.
Drive rapid concept iteration and down-selection using simulation, analysis, testing, and engineering judgment.
Develop and maintain aircraft performance models and sizing tools to support design decisions and program planning.
Define high-level aircraft architecture and guide configuration development from early concept through prototype and flight test.
Work cross-functionally with propulsion, structures, electrical, software, controls, manufacturing, and flight test teams to drive integrated vehicle development.
Lead technical decision-making under aggressive timelines and evolving program requirements.
Support wind tunnel testing, propulsion testing, flight testing, and correlation of simulation models to real-world data.
Mentor and grow a small multidisciplinary engineering team while maintaining deep individual technical contribution.
Identify technical risks early and drive practical engineering solutions with a strong bias toward execution and rapid iteration.
Help establish scalable engineering workflows, analysis methods, and development processes appropriate for a fast-moving aerospace startup.