Title Carlsbad, California | Engineering | Full-time
About the roleAptera has already done the hard part: designing one of the most aerodynamically efficient vehicles ever built for public roads. Your job is to make sure it stays that way - through production, iteration, and every engineering decision that touches airflow.
This is a highly collaborative, detail-oriented role. You will be the aerodynamics conscience of the vehicle program - partnering daily with founders, the SVP of Engineering, and cross functional team leads to ensure that the low-drag, high-efficiency ethos is preserved at every stage of design and build.
What you'll do- Own aerodynamic integrity of the production vehicle. Review and approve (or flag) panel gaps, fit tolerances, surface changes, and design modifications before they ship because at Cd < 0.13, every millimeter matters.
- Support engineering leads across body, chassis, thermal, and powertrain teams with aerodynamic trade-off analysis: drag vs. cooling, frontal area vs. cabin space, downforce vs. efficiency.
- Leverage CFD intelligently - knowing when simulation is sufficient, when a wind tunnel is warranted, and when Tufts tape and a GoPro on a back road will tell you everything you need. Then go do it yourself.
- Drive continuous improvement - identify opportunities to reduce drag further or improve stability with each product revision, keeping Aptera ahead of its own benchmarks.
- Get your hands dirty - instrument the vehicle for aerodynamic measurement, apply clay modifications to test surface changes, run tuft visualization, and drive the car yourself to collect data when needed. This is not a desk job.
- Ensure stability compliance - confirm that all configurations meet management defined drag and stability requirements before sign-off.
Qualifications- Proven you can think rigorously about aerodynamics in a resource-constrained, high stakes environment.
- Competition background strongly preferred - SCCA road racing, SAE Supermileage, Formula SAE, or a university solar car team (e.g., American Solar Challenge, World Solar Challenge). If you've stayed up until 2am arguing about a spoiler lip angle, you're an ideal candidate.
- Hands-on CFD experience - STAR-CCM+, ANSYS Fluent, OpenFOAM, or similar.
- Skilled to set up a simulation, but more importantly, you know when not to trust it.
- Correlation with the real world - You know what to do when simulated results don't match wind tunnel results, and those don't match the track data.
- Systems thinking - you can hold Cd, weight, battery range, thermal management, and manufacturing cost in your head at once and communicate the trade-offs clearly to non-aero engineers.
- Execution focus - the vehicle exists. Your most important job isn't reimagining it; it's protecting what makes it extraordinary while helping it get better.
Preferred Qualifications- Competitive racing or solar vehicle program experience.
- Familiarity with automotive surface modeling (CATIA, NX, SolidWorks).
- Experience with pressure tap instrumentation, wake surveys, or flow visualization techniques.
- Wind tunnel experience - academic or commercial - including instrumentation setup and data reduction.
- Comfort with clay modeling and surface modification for rapid shape iteration.
- Valid driver's license and genuine comfort behind the wheel of a test vehicle.
Team Structure - Individual contributor; collaborate with other teams and individuals, as necessary
Required Experience- Practical aerodynamic analysis experience: CFD, physical testing, or both.
- Strong communicator - you can explain drag penalties to others without being condescending.
Educational Requirements- B.S. in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Automotive Engineering (or equivalent demonstrated experience)
Salary + Benefits - Market competitive compensation package
- Stock option grants
- Fully funded benefits package for employee + dependents
- Generous Flexible Time Away policy
