Full-time position | San Mateo, CA (Onsite)
Note: In accordance with export control regulations, this position requires candidates to qualify as a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual as defined under 8 U.S.C. a7 1324b(a)(3)). For engagements with cleared customers, an active or obtainable U.S. security clearance is preferred but not required.
YOUR IMPACTAs the Senior/Principal Lead Delivery Engineer for Aerospace, you own customer outcomes for Luminary's aerospace engagements - spanning established OEMs and the next generation building the future of flight and space. You are a dual hat - project manager and product manager - leading a matrixed value delivery team that translates the hardest problems in aircraft design, propulsion, aeroelasticity, and certification-relevant analysis and more into Physics AI solutions. You partner with the GTM team on account engagement and growth.
WHAT YOU'LL DO- Own end-to-end customer outcomes across new and existing aerospace accounts - from discovery and use case scoping through model development, deployment, and embedding into customer engineering workflows.
- Author Statements of Work (SOWs), educate customers on the engagement plan, and own delivery accountability against them.
- Lead a value delivery team in a matrix structure: Applications Engineers, Applied AI/ML Scientists, Data and Platform Engineers, and selected product engineers. Set technical direction, sequence the work, remove blockers.
- Operate as a dual hat - project manager and product manager - running sprints, milestones, and risk while also choosing the right use cases and shaping the product intuition for what to build next.
- Stay hands-on-keyboard where it matters. Debug a model, restructure a data pipeline, prototype a workflow integration. Lead from the front, not from slides.
- Embrace co-engineering: work side-by-side with customers on use case development, sharing knowledge and building trust through visible, collaborative work.
- Partner with GTM team on new account engagement, GTM-to-delivery handoff, and account growth.
- Bring market and customer signal back to Product and Research, directly shaping Luminary's roadmap for aerospace use cases.
WHAT YOU BRING- 5-10 years of experience in a technical role in aerospace - aerospace OEMs, eVTOL/UAM, space, propulsion, or aerospace-adjacent engineering software. Principal-level candidates have an extensive track record in aerospace.
- Multi-physics fluency across aerospace disciplines: aerodynamics, structural mechanics, aeroelasticity, propulsion, thermal-structural coupling, composites, or multi-physics simulation. Generalist depth across several disciplines is more valuable than world-class depth in one.
- U.S. Person required.
- Strong hands-on engineering chops - Python, scripting, simulation tools, and AI/ML workflows.
- Working knowledge of AI/ML applied to engineering - surrogate modeling, neural operators, physics-informed ML, or digital twins.
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional technical teams without direct authority.
- Product instinct, customer-facing presence, exceptional communication.
- Self-starter, persistent through iteration, willing to travel 10-25% to customer sites.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS- Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Aerospace, Mechanical, or related field.
- Prior experience at commercial aerospace OEMs (Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier, Embraer, Textron), eVTOL/UAM (Joby, Archer, Wisk, Beta, Lilium), space (SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, Relativity, Stoke), or propulsion (Rolls-Royce, GE Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, Safran).
- Hands-on experience with CFD, FEA, aeroelasticity, MDO, or certification-relevant analysis.
- Understanding of how AI-driven simulation integrates into aerospace development and certification workflows.
- Active or obtainable U.S. security clearance for engagements with cleared aerospace customers.
