FlightTestEngineer

About Poseidon Aerospace: Poseidon Aerospace builds and operates unmanned planes for commercial logistics and defense missions. Our two full-size fixed-wing platforms - Heron, a seaplane, and Egret, a STOL aircraft - can carry two tons of payload over a thousand nautical miles. We are headquartered in San Francisco with satellite offices in Washington, DC and Maine. As a Flight Test Engineer at Poseidon Aerospace, you will lead the planning, preparation, and execution of flight and ground test campaigns across all Poseidon Aerospace flight platforms . You will bridge the gap between design engineering and real-world operations, taking full vehicle platforms from the laboratory environments straight to the flight line. This role requires a systems-level understanding of aircraft, a highly structured and safety-first approach to test execution, and the ability to analyze complex telemetry data into clear, actionable engineering results.   RESPONSIBILITIES - Test Planning & Coordination: Develop comprehensive flight test plans, test cards, and functional hazard analyses (FHA) for full-scale autonomous aircraft systems and subsystems. - Flight Line Execution: Act as a Test Director or Responsible Engineer during ground runs, taxi tests, and envelope-expansion flight test events. - Data & Telemetry Analysis: Monitor real-time telemetry during flights. Collect, process, and interpret flight test data using scripting tools to assess vehicle performance, stability, and control, overall system performance, engine performance, and fuel system performance. - Instrumentation & Integration: Define requirements for and support the installation of flight test instrumentation (FTI), sensors (strain gauges, load cells, pitot-static systems), and data acquisition systems onboard the test assets. - Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with Avionics, Propulsion, Flight Controls, and Structural design, Flight Sciences, and Airplane Configuration Design teams to define objecti