Distinguished Flight Controls Engineer

Job No: 503695
Work Type: Staff Full Time (1500 hours or greater)
Location: Dayton, OH
Category: Research Institute Staff
Department: UAS & Embedded Systems - 250651
Pay Grade: R5 - Exempt
Advertised: July 06, 2026
Applications close:

Position Summary:
Shape the next generation of autonomous flight control technologies.

The Distinguished Flight Controls Engineer serves as a senior technical leader and principal investigator responsible for advancing state-of-the-art autonomous flight control capabilities across a broad portfolio of multi-vehicle research and development efforts. This role leads the conception, development, integration, and maturation of practical autonomous solutions for coordinated groups of unmanned aerial vehicles, leveraging deep expertise in flight controls, guidance and navigation, cooperative autonomy, and robust control architectures.

This position's primary focus is on multi-vehicle autonomous controls, including the coordination, synchronization, and mission-level management of heterogeneous autonomous platforms. Work in this area spans advanced control theory, real-time decision systems, distributed computing, verification and validation of autonomous behaviors, and the integration of human-machine teaming principles.
As a technical authority, the Distinguished Engineer will provide strategic direction, technical oversight, and mentorship to project teams, ensuring the successful transition of autonomy technologies from research concepts to operationally viable capabilities. The role also requires proactively identifying, shaping, and advocating for new research initiatives and sustained investment in autonomy development across AFRL and partner organizations. This includes articulating technical vision, influencing internal and external stakeholders, and fostering collaborations across government, industry, and academia.

Through thought leadership, deep flight controls expertise, and cross-organizational engagement, this position will drive the next generation of UAV autonomy solutions and strengthen the broader autonomy research ecosystem.

Minimum Qualifications:
• Ph.D. in Flight Mechanics, Aerospace Engineering, Control Systems, or a closely related discipline.
• A minimum of 15 years of experience conducting research and development.
• Expertise in the design, analysis, and implementation of autonomous decision-making and control algorithms.
• Deep technical proficiency in flight control system design, verification, and real-time implementation.
• Experience with the Open Mission Systems (OMS) architecture and integration of autonomy components within OMS-compliant frameworks.
• Extensive hands-on experience planning, coordinating, and executing UAS flight test campaigns.
• Proven track record serving as a principal investigator, technical lead, or equivalent senior role on complex autonomy or flight control research programs.
• Ability to transition research concepts into fielded or operationally relevant capability demonstrations.
• Experience mentoring teams, providing technical direction, and shaping long-term research strategies.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, with the ability to articulate technical concepts to diverse audiences including leadership, collaborators, and external partners.
• Ability to collaborate across multidisciplinary teams involving controls, software, sensing, AI/ML, modeling and simulation, and human-machine teaming.
• Due to the requirements of our research contracts with the U.S. federal government, candidates for this position must be a U.S. citizen.

Preferred Qualifications:
While not everyone may possess all of the preferred qualifications, the ideal candidate will bring many of the following:
• Demonstrated experience influencing technical direction, investment priorities, or research strategy within the U.S. Air Force, Department of Defense, or similar large-scale organizations.
• Experience developing, implementing, and maintaining Verification and Validation (V&V) tools, frameworks, or automated test environments for autonomous systems.
• Proven capability in designing, tuning, and integrating advanced autopilot systems for unmanned or autonomous aircraft.
• Established record of effective collaboration with diverse stakeholders across government agencies, industry partners, and contractor organizations.
• Experience planning, coordinating, and participating in integrated flight demonstrations, including multi-vehicle or autonomy-focused events.
• Active TS/SCI security clearance.
• Experience transitioning autonomy technologies to operational programs of record or field experimentation campaigns.
• Familiarity with digital engineering approaches, including high-fidelity modeling, simulation, and virtual test environments for autonomy.
• Experience leading or contributing to cross-organizational working groups, technical exchanges, or standards development related to autonomy or mission systems.
• Recognition as a technical expert through publications, invited talks, patents, or participation in advisory panels.

Special Instructions to Applicants:
To apply please submit a cover letter addressing each minimum qualification and any applicable preferred qualifications that you meet.

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