Aerodynamic Engineer

Harmattan AI

ABOUT US Harmattan AI is a next-generation defense prime building autonomous and scalable defense systems. Following the close of a $200M Series B, valuing the company at $1.4 billion, we are expanding our teams and capabilities to deliver mission-critical systems to allied forces. Our work is guided by clear values: building technologies with real-world impact, pursuing excellence in everything we do, setting ambitious goals, and taking on the hardest technical challenges. We operate in a demanding environment where rigor, ownership, and execution are expected. Harmattan is seeking a hands-on Aerothermal Engineer to join our Aerodynamics team. You will own the full thermal and aerothermal engineering cycle for our UAV platforms: from early design recommendations and simulation to wind tunnel experiments and flight test campaigns. Your work directly impacts the survivability, reliability, and performance of our systems in contested environments. You will be the technical authority on heat transfer, thermal management, and aerothermal interactions across all vehicle programs — working closely with aerodynamics, propulsion, mechanical, and GNC teams to ensure our platforms perform within thermal limits under real operational conditions. RESPONSIBILITIES * Aerothermal Design & Recommendations: Provide early-stage design guidance on thermal management architecture — including cooling inlet design, heat shield placement, exhaust routing, and surface coatings — to ensure airframes remain within thermal limits across the full flight envelope. * Thermal & Aerothermal Simulation: Set up, run, and validate lower fidelity thermal models, simulations and coupled thermal-fluid CFD tools (e.g., OpenFOAM). Model convective, conductive, and radiative heat transfer on internal components (batteries, motors, avionics) and external aerodynamic surfaces. * Design Optimization: Drive iterative aerothermal optimization cycles to minimize thermal drag penalty, reduce hotspot intensity, and maximize cooling efficiency. Leverage scripting and automated workflows to sweep design parameters and converge on optimal configurations. * Wind Tunnel Test Campaigns: Design, plan, and execute aerothermal wind tunnel experiments. Define instrumentation strategy (thermocouples, heat flux sensors, pressure taps), write test plans, operate test rigs, and lead post-test data analysis and correlation with simulation. * Flight Test Campaigns: Contribute to and lead in-flight thermal measurement campaigns. Define DAQ architecture for thermal sensors, develop test matrices, analyze flight data, and correlate with CFD predictions to validate models and sign off thermal margins. * Cross-functional Integration: Act as the thermal interface between the aerodynamics, propulsion, mechanical, and GNC teams — ensuring that thermal constraints are reflected in system-level trade-offs and that heat rejection requirements are accounted for in the airframe design. REQUIREMENTS * Education: B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field with a strong focus on fluid mechanics and heat transfer. * AeroThermal Fundamentals: Solid theoretical grounding in convective, conductive, and radiative heat transfer; boundary layer theory; and viscous flow physics as applied to aircraft surfaces and internal cooling passages. * Thermal Simulation Proficiency: Hands-on experience with CFD simulations in at least one major solver (OpenFOAM, Star-CCM+, ANSYS Fluent/CFX, or equivalent). Ability to select appropriate thermal boundary conditions, turbulence models, and mesh strategies for accuracy. * Experimental Testing: Demonstrated experience planning and executing thermal measurement campaigns — either in wind tunnel or in-flight — including instrumentation selection, DAQ setup, data reduction, and uncertainty analysis. * Python Proficiency: Ability to script data processing pipelines, automate post-processing of thermal simulation outputs, and interface with experimental DAQ systems. * Technical Communication: Ability to translate complex aerothermal findings into clear design recommendations for multidisciplinary teams. NICE TO HAVE * General Aerodynamic Knowledge: Familiarity with the fundamentals of external aerodynamics — lift and drag generation, pressure distributions, boundary layer behaviour, and flow separation — as applied to fixed-wing or multirotor UAV platforms. * RC Knowledge: Hands-on experience building, flying, or tuning RC aircraft or drones — whether fixed-wing, quadcopter, or hybrid configurations. We look forward to hearing how you can help shape the future of autonomous defense systems at Harmattan AI.

Harmattan AI

ABOUT US Harmattan AI is a next-generation defense prime building autonomous and scalable defense systems. Following the close of a $200M Series B, valuing the company at $1.4 billion, we are expanding our teams and capabilities to deliver mission-critical systems to allied forces. Our work is guided by clear values: building technologies with real-world impact, pursuing excellence in everything we do, setting ambitious goals, and taking on the hardest technical challenges. We operate in a demanding environment where rigor, ownership, and execution are expected. About the Role As the Director of Engineering for UAS at Harmattan AI, you will act as a vital management layer between R&D modules and leadership, focusing on elevating our people and standardising our engineering excellence. This is a "hands-off" people management role designed to relieve pressure on senior leadership by building high-performing teams, improving internal tooling, and standardising work processes across the company without sacrificing execution speed. You will be a visionary partner to our leadership, contributing to organisational structure and the long-term technical vision. In this role, you will lead our UAS Engineering teams across Lausanne and Paris — covering aerodynamics, mechanical design, electronics, propulsion, prototyping, and Systems-on-Module (SOM). UAS Engineering's cadence is driven by physical prototypes and test campaigns, and the role spans multiple senior-heavy hardware disciplines. Responsibilities * People Management & Mentorship: Act as a dedicated people manager for engineers, overseeing performance reviews, career growth, and training initiatives. * Recruitment: Own the recruitment process as the number one priority, building and maintaining an effective engineering team to meet our ambitious growth plans across six hardware engineering disciplines and two sites. * Process Standardisation: Develop and implement standardised work processes across mechanical, electrical, and propulsion engineering teams to ensure high-quality output and consistency. * Engineering Infrastructure: Audit and improve internal tooling—deciding between off-the-shelf and custom solutions—to ensure engineers have the best resources to succeed. * Organisational Strategy: Contribute to the organisational structure by reorganising modules and initiating changes to optimise cross-functional (XFN) delivery. * Vision & Execution: Collaborate with leadership to build the company vision, bringing fresh ideas to the table rather than just executing existing plans. Candidate Requirements * Educational Background: A strong academic record in Mechanical, Aerospace, or Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field. * Proven Leadership: Previous experience as an Individual Contributor (IC) who has successfully transitioned into a management role, allowing you to deeply understand the technical challenges your team faces. * Experience: Direct experience leading multi-disciplinary hardware engineering teams (30+ engineers) at a UAV, drone, eVTOL, or humanoid / advanced robotics company. You have shipped at least one complex multi-disciplinary hardware system — airframe, propulsion stack, full UAV, or humanoid platform — through prototype to deployment or production, and you know the rhythm of fast-cycle hardware test campaigns and qualification gates. * Technical Engagement: While this is a management-focused role, you should still possess a desire to "keep your hands dirty" and remain engaged with the technical aspects of the work. * Soft Skills & Communication: Exceptional soft skills and communication abilities, with a "high-bar" for excellence and a natural ability to elevate those around them. * Commitment: 100% dedication to Harmattan AI's mission of building autonomous defence systems and a readiness to thrive in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment. We look forward to hearing how you can help shape the future of autonomous defense systems at Harmattan AI.

Neural Concept

ABOUT THE ROLE Neural Concept’s Vertical Solutions team turns the most critical engineering use cases into streamlined, production-grade workflows empowered by leading AI technologies. As Senior Vehicle Solution Owner, you will use a decade of automotive engineering experience to lead one of the most strategically important parts of our automotive offering. You will define the Vehicle Body solution — built on top of the Neural Concept platform — combining design, simulation and data-science/ML to compress development cycles across the full breadth of vehicle attributes. You will partner directly with leading OEMs to understand their needs and translate them into solution direction and product strategy. If you have spent your career as a chief engineer, attribute lead or technical specialist designing cars, this is a unique chance to step out of a single program and shape, at industry scale, how vehicle are engineered with AI. WHAT YOU WILL DO * Own the Vehicle solution end to end. Define and deliver competitive, replicable solutions for automotive vehicle engineering on the Neural Concept platform, spanning the full breadth of body attributes. * Partner with lead customers. Lead discovery interviews with OEM and Tier-1 customers, build trusted strategic relationships, validate solutions against real-world requirements, and expand product scope to cover a larger part of the design process. * Work hands-on with ML engineers and scientists. Collaborate closely with a cross-functional team of CAD/CAE/ML engineers — from prototype to production-ready solution — to advance what is possible in engineering design with AI. * Enable go-to-market teams. Equip Sales, Solution Engineering, and Marketing with the domain knowledge, value proposition, and materials they need to position the Vehicle solution credibly with senior automotive stakeholders. * Support strategic customers and partners. Represent Neural Concept in high-level technical and strategic discussions, monitor key customer projects within the vertical to ensure alignment and value delivery, and align vertical initiatives with overall company strategy. WHO YOU ARE EXPERIENCE * 10+ years in the automotive industry designing vehicles, in a role such as chief engineer, attribute lead, or technical lead focused on key performance attributes (e.g. aerodynamics, crash/structural safety, thermal). * Proven track record of owning vehicle engineering decisions across the full development cycle: requirements, concept, modeling and simulation, validation, testing, and release. * Experience building and influencing relationships with senior engineering stakeholders at OEMs. HARD SKILLS * Hands-on understanding of CAD, PLM, simulation (CAE), physical and virtual testing, and design for manufacturing. * Fluent in the workflows and tools automotive body engineers use — for example CATIA / NX and Teamcenter / 3DEXPERIENCE (CAD/PLM); LS-DYNA, Pam-Crash, Radioss, Abaqus, Nastran (crash/structural); StarCCM+, OpenFOAM, PowerFLOW (aero/thermal). * Comfortable working with data-driven engineering approaches. MINDSET * Pragmatic problem solver — focused on impact, not buzzwords; willing to look at engineering from a new angle and challenge established ways of working. * Strong customer discovery skills and empathy, with the credibility to engage senior automotive leaders. * Strategic thinker who can move fluidly between long-term direction and hands-on, cross-functional delivery. NICE TO HAVE * Hands-on experience with Python, AI tools, and ML/data-science processes. * Exposure to applying machine learning or surrogate modeling to engineering design. Tags: #Automotive #VehicleBody #Aerodynamics #Crash #Thermal #CAD #CAE #PLM #DFM #SimulationAI #DeepLearning WHAT YOU GET * Work with a world-class technology team — our engineers are top-notch, and we always aim for excellence. * Benefit from a competitive salary and rewarding opportunities as we continue to scale. * Thrive in a collaborative, multicultural environment where your work is visible and recognized. * Develop professionally alongside talented colleagues who share knowledge freely and support one another. * Make a global impact by helping customers shift to AI-assisted design, making innovation faster, smarter, and more sustainable. * Balance life and work with a hybrid model (40% remote) and flexible hours — we care about results, not rigid schedules. WE'RE PROUD TO BE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER, AND WE'RE COMMITTED TO BUILDING A DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT WHERE YOU CAN THRIVE.