Lead Design Engineer

The Call You've Been Waiting For Structures Design Lead You've spent years doing exceptional work on programs that will never have your name on them. You've watched decisions get made by committee. You've seen great ideas die in review cycles. You've shipped hardware you're proud of, but always wondered what you could do if someone just got out of the way and let you build. That call is here. Somewhere in Southern California, a small group of engineers is doing something that hasn't been done before. They're designing an aircraft from scratch. Not an iteration, not a derivative. A genuinely new machine built for a mission that didn't exist a decade ago. Autonomous swarming at scale. The kind of air power that changes the calculus of modern warfare. The team is small on purpose. No layers. No bureaucracy. Just a handful of the best structures and airframe engineers in the country, working with the urgency of people who understand what's at stake and the freedom of people who've earned the trust to execute. There is an open seat at that table. The person who fills it has designed composite airframe structures that flew. They've owned programs from blank sheet to production hardware and have the instincts that only come from doing it under real pressure. They think in load paths, laminates, and joints. They've done their best work on small teams, in rooms where there was no one to escalated to, where the answer had to come from them. The Work You will be one of a small group of engineers responsible for the airframe and composite structures of this aircraft from concept through production hardware. That means driving structural design and development, translating performance and weight targets into things that can actually be built, generating CAD that goes straight to hardware, sizing structure and joints under real constraints, and setting the standards the team builds on. You will run design reviews, own DFM, work directly with manufacturing and suppliers, and mentor the engineers around you. What You Bring You have designed composite airframe structures that flew. You have owned the full arc from blank sheet to production hardware and have the intuition that only comes from doing it on real programs under real pressure. You think in laminates, load paths, and joints. You have solved problems that didn't have a textbook answer. You have probably done it on a small team where there was no one to hand it off to. Compensation $200K - $300K base + meaningful equity in a high-growth defense technology company. Full medical, dental, vision, 401(k), wellness stipend, daily catered lunch, and paid parental leave. Swarm Aero is backed by Founders Fund, Khosla, and Coatue. Our team has built 30+ novel aircraft, closed defense deals worth billions, and brings experience from Scaled Composites, Airbus, Archer, Blue Origin, and Boom Supersonic. As part of our commitment to maintaining a safe and trustworthy work environment, Swarm Aero conducts a thorough screening of prospective employees. Candidates will be subject to a comprehensive background verification process as a prerequisite for employment. To conform to U.S. Government controlled technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. #J-18808-Ljbffr