Job Summary General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is a world leader in proven, reliable remotely piloted aircraft and tactical reconnaissance radars, as well as advanced high-resolution surveillance systems.

We have an exciting opportunity for an External Aerodynamics CFD Supervisor in San Diego, CA. (Poway, CA) looking for an expert in the application of CFD to external aerodynamics to provide technical guidance to a team of CFD engineers and a team of CFD tool developers. Tasks include the external aerodynamics of all GA-ASI aircraft programs, focusing mainly on subsonic and transonic aerodynamics. This position is within the Flight Technologies department in San Diego, CA. In addition to setting guidelines for external aerodynamic processes for meshing and CFD solver settings, this individual will spend the majority part of their time as an individual contributor, and part of their time in their role as supervisor. Responsibilities as the External Aerodynamics CFD Supervisor include staying abreast of industry trends, educating all CFD practitioners and tool builders, and working with the tools group to formally post best practices and processes, including audits of CFD analyses. In addition, the External Aerodynamics CFD Supervisor will manage a team of approximately four experienced CFD engineers.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide technical leadership and guidance in the application of CFD to external aerodynamics for aircraft ranging from subsonic UAVs with extensive natural laminar flow (NLF) to transonic UAVs with shock-laden flows.
• Stay abreast of the latest industry trendsdevelopments, such as the AIAA Drag Prediction Workshops, High-Lift Prediction Workshops, etc. Also stay abreast of software and HPC trends, such as overset meshes, adjoint methods, GPU-based parallelization, etc. From those trends, and given the limitations of our tools, distill pragmatic best practices and arrive at mesh guidelines, solver settings, and strategies for initialization and convergence.
• Establish standards for standard slides (automated postprocessing and reporting) and for the internal audit process. Work with CFD engineers and the tools team to implement the standards and best practices pertaining to the application of CFD to external aerodynamics and aerodynamic loads. Collaborate with the propulsion CFD team to establish best practices for inlets, ducts, aeroacoustics, and thrust-drag bookkeeping.
• Develop methods for standardizing the reporting of error bars with CFD-based aerodynamic databases and reduced order models (ROMs). Such methods should be based on standards and on rigorous statistical analysis, ideally involving UQ (uncertainty quantification) methods.
• Help develop tools for designing and optimizing wings and other aerodynamic shapes, especially at high-fidelity, and potentially using adjoint-based methods.
• As a supervisor, manage a team of approximately four experienced CFD engineers, including annual performance reviews. Coordinate with other supervisors in the Flight Technologies department to allocate and balance manpower and computing resources to meet task requirements, budget and schedule.
• As an individual contributor, manage and execute analyses regarding external aerodynamics. Examples include the creation of aerodynamic databases based on wind tunnel tests and/or CFD, and the assessment of stability and control (S&C) impacts of new payloads.
• As an individual contributor, provide advice on aircraft sizing, wing sizing, airfoil selection, and tail sizing for conceptual design of new aircraft concepts.
• Collaborate with other groups within the Flight Technologies department to provide meaningful and actionable input on new designs as well as enhancements to existing GA aircraft.
• Present results within the Engineering Organization, to internal program offices, as well as to external customers and professional organizations.

We recognize and appreciate the value and contributions of individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences and welcome all qualified individuals to apply.



Job Qualifications:

• Typically requires a bachelors degree, masters degree or PhD in engineering or a related technical discipline from an accredited institution and progressive engineering experience as follows; twelve or more years of experience with a bachelors degree, ten or more years of experience with a masters degree, or seven or more years with a PhD. May substitute equivalent engineering experience in lieu of education.
• Requires very strong technical knowledge of CFD numerics (Navier-Stokes), turbulence models, transition modeling, and application of CFD to external aerodynamics.
• Requires expertise in the use of commercial meshing and CFD tools. Expertise must include geometry repair, surface meshing, and volume meshing.
• Requires solid background on aerodynamic databases, wind tunnel testing, CFD, and the estimation of associated uncertainties.
• Requires a solid foundation in aerodynamics ranging from the subsonic regime well into the transonic regime, including natural transition and unsteady flows.
• Requires familiarity with aerodynamic analysis tools of multiple fidelities, ranging from 3D inviscid tools and 2D airfoil tools to 3D Navier-Stokes CFD tools.
• Requires familiarity with aircraft performance, ranging from the creation of performance charts to the evaluation of flight test data.
• Requires familiarity with the aerodynamic stability and controllability requirements for aircraft, from both a mathematical theoretical and the regulatory perspective.
• Requires familiarity with aircraft sizing, wing sizing, airfoil selection, and tail sizing for conceptual design of new aircraft concepts.
• Understanding of coupling between aircraft aerodynamics, propulsion performance, and thermal management.
• Requires solid programming knowledge (C, C++, Fortran, Python, preferably Matlab).
• Requires occasional travel to wind tunnels, flight test sites, customer sites, and conferences.
• Requires extensive hands-on experience with commercial and/or government meshing and CFD software, such as ANSA, CCM+, FLUENT, and Kestrel.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD secret clearance.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS:

• Highly desirable: experience with 2D airfoil codes, esp. XFoil and MSES.
• Highly desirable: experience with 3D inviscid solvers such as vortex lattice methods (VLM), lifting lines, panel codes.
• Desirable: experience with flying wings.
• Desirable: Pilot's License.

Salary:$116,480 - $208,505