Research Scientist, Prime Air Flight Sciences Vehicle Design & Test

Here at Amazon, we embrace our differences and are committed to furthering our culture of diversity and inclusion. The Prime Air team is looking for an outstanding engineer to help rapidly configure, design, analyze, prototype, and test innovative drone vehicles for Amazon's delivery drone program.

As a Research Scientist in the Prime Air Flight Sciences Vehicle Design & Test team, you will:

• Assess Aerodynamics, Performance, and Stability & Control characteristics of vehicle designs
• Build and utilize Multi-disciplinary Optimization (MDO) tools
• Explore new and novel drone vehicle conceptual designs
• Prototype vehicle designs and support wind tunnel and other testing
• Work closely with all vehicle subsystem teams to ensure integrated designs meeting various requirements
• Support the Office of the Chief Program Engineer

The Flight Sciences Vehicle Design & Test organization includes teams spanning Aerodynamics, Performance, Stability & Control, Configuration & Spatial Integration, Loads, Structures, Mass Properties, Multi-disciplinary Optimization (MDO), Wind Tunnel Testing, Noise Testing, Flight Test Instrumentation, and Rapid Prototyping.

This role offers the opportunity to drive innovation, apply state-of-the-art technologies to solve real-world delivery challenges, and provide benefits to customers in an iterative environment.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, physics with 5+ years experience or equivalent
• Experience with flight vehicle design, simulation, and development
• Proficiency in at least one modern programming language (e.g., C++, Python, Java, VBA)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's or PhD in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, physics or equivalent
• 3+ years experience in air vehicle aerodynamic design, analysis, and testing (preferably electric propulsion vehicles)
• Wind tunnel testing experience
• Propeller/rotor design, analysis, and testing experience
• Experience using multi-disciplinary analysis & optimization (MDO/MDAO) tools and methods
• Vehicle level design intuition and ability to operate & analyze at the system-of-systems level
• Specialization in aerodynamics, performance, stability & control, propulsion, loads, or airframe structures
• Experience using modeFRONTIER, Model Center, OpenMDAO, or CATIA

Amazon offers a competitive compensation package, including equity, sign-on payments, and a full range of benefits. The base pay for this position ranges from $136,000/year to $212,800/year, depending on the geographic market and other factors.