Founding Flight Controls Engineer (Santa Clara)

Join a company building personal eVTOL aircraft to make true door-to-door flight practical and accessible. Starting with subscale VTOL systems, they're rapidly iterating toward certified two-seat aircraft and beyond.The small, high-calibre team includes engineers from leading aerospace and hardware programs, backed by experienced investors and operators. They move fast, test in the real world, and focus on solving hard, meaningful problems in aviation.As a founding engineer, you'll own the flight control architecture from early prototypes through to full-scale aircraft.You'll be responsible for the vehicle's behaviour across hover, transition, and cruise - spanning control systems, state estimation, and pilot feel - while balancing rapid iteration with safety-critical design principles.What You'll DoDesign and implement flight control systems across the full flight envelopeLead transition analysis (hover cruise), including worst-case control scenariosBuild and own simulation environments for system validationDefine safety architecture: redundancy, fault detection, and recoveryCollaborate across structures and avionics for robust system performanceDebug real-world flight issues and iterate quickly from test dataWhy JoinOwn a critical system from day oneWork on real flying hardware with rapid iteration cyclesHelp shape the future of personal aviationCompetitive salary + meaningful equityMedical benefits includedPlease feel free to apply even if your skillset isn't an exact match to requirements, as the team is small - there could be other areas you could support the mission!