Flight Controls Engineer

This position will design and develop flight or mission-critical onboard software for aircraft, helicopters, ground vehicles, vision systems, situational awareness and collision avoidance systems, see and avoid, redundancy management and Manned/UAV Guidance, Navigation, & Control (GNC) and path planning systems. The Flight Controls Engineer will participate hands-on in the full software life-cycle, from concept through implementation, integration to flight test.

Responsibilities

• Define, analyze and review software requirements to customer needs and system quality and performance standards
• Collaborate with other engineering disciplines in planning, design and development of systems to ensure software and hardware performance and compatibility
• Design software architecture and interfaces and implement functionality using a model-based approach
• Design and develop flight or mission-critical onboard software for manned systems
• Software verification and validation including writing Test Cases and Test Procedures
• Develop, implement, and document data and software application test plans to validate project deliverables meet quality standards
• Oversee and support processes and procedures for existing data and reporting activities to support internal and external customer deliverables. Examples of specific deliverables include but are not limited to: recurring reports and analyses; data validation and documentation

• Interface with hardware design and development
• Support oversight of suppliers who develop a subset of the embedded software or verification test cases and procedures
• Assess third party and open-source software which potentially augments existing Piasecki flight control capabilities
• Typical software functionality for a manned aerospace includes guidance, navigation & control, mission sequencing, payload control, redundancy and contingency management, uplink and downlink packet encoding and decoding, converting between different serial protocols, hardware-in-the-loop simulation, ground based GUIs, and aircraft subsystem control (i.e., engine, electrical system, fuel system)

Requirements

• BS degree in ME / EE / AE engineering
• Minimum Four years’ experience in a professional environment developing MATLAB / Simulink control systems with auto code experience; or MS in Controls or Aerospace Engineering plus 2 years’ experience.  Embedded code experience preferred.
• Experience in developing physics based 6 DOF simulations, preference helicopters
• Drive usage of tools: Matlab/Simulink, C, C++, FORTRAN or Python for cost efficient development and execution of program
• Ability to predict performance of helicopter simulations
• Experience developing scripts to run batch processes
• Experience in data post processing from simulation runs and report writing
• Familiarity with autonomous guidance, navigation and control

• Experience developing guidance and autonomy algorithms required; in denied environments preferred

Minimum two years of demonstrated, hands-on professional experience in at least one, ideally a combination, of the following areas:

• Model-based design and/or test using the Simulink/Stateflow tool chain.
• Software development in a relevant subject matter area: Aircraft Guidance Navigation & Control or other robotic system guidance, navigation and control; ground- or airborne mission systems; general aerospace flight control or cockpit avionics systems; ground stations; payload control.
• Development/operations of hardware-in-the-loop simulators, conducting testing and troubleshooting of HW/SW interfaces.
• Open Architecture oriented systems (FACE) applied to complex aerospace or military systems (C2, payload data, etc.)
• Familiarity with software configuration management tools, version control systems, defect tracking tools, and peer review required
• Existing DoD Secret Clearance or be eligible to receive secret clearance.

PiAC offers comprehensive health benefits, a 401k retirement plan with employer matching, and generous paid time off benefits to full-time employees.

Relocation: 

Relocation assistance is not a negotiable benefit for this position. Candidates must live in the immediate area or relocate at their own expense.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Piasecki Aircraft Corporation is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, genetic factors, military/veteran status or other characteristics protected by law.

Export Control Requirements: 

U.S. Government Export Control Status: This position must meet export control compliance requirements. To meet export control compliance requirements, a “U.S. Person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. §120.15 is required. “U.S. Person” includes U.S. Citizen, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee.