At WingXpand® Locations: Chicago, IL

‍Type Full-time

About WingXpand WingXpand is Expanding What’s Possible™ with Autonomous Systems, building long-endurance, backpackable smart plane drones and robotics systems that support defense, public safety, disaster response, and commercial missions. Our platforms operate across air, ground, and maritime domains, integrating autonomy, AI-powered sensing, edge computing, and networked systems to deliver real-world intelligence and threat detection. We design, build, and deploy complete systems — hardware, software, and data — and we move fast. As WingXpand scales, we are seeking high performers to grow with our team.

Position Description We are seeking a mechanical drone / uncrewed vehicle engineer to join our team. The successful candidate will be responsible for designing, developing, and optimizing WingXpand® platform designs.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop and execute engineering optimization approaches for UxVs
• Test and validate aircraft design through software simulations, lab and flight tests
• Seamlessly collaborate with software and manufacturing engineers to achieve aircraft design requirements
• Select, integrate, and design aircraft payloads, sub-systems, propulsion and battery
• Leverage modeling and simulation software packages to assess aircraft stability and control, aerodynamic, and mission performance

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a closely-related field
• 3+ year of experience designing, testing and optimizing robotics systems, especially UxVs.
• Experience with performing engineering sensitivity / trade space assessments
• Expert CAD designer with experiences in Solidworks and F360.
• Strong communication and teamwork skills

Additional Qualifications

• Prefer those with a background in developing and flying drones, ideally with a Part 107 certificate
• Prefer those with a proven track record of succeeding in fast paced environments
• Prefer those with the ability to tune drone software settings and directly support flight test activities
• Experienced with one or more of the following: PX4, OpenVSP, AeroSandbox, XFLR5, Airfoil Tools, ANSYS Fluent, Solidworks, Fusion 360, FEA and CFD packages.

What Else You Need To Know To conform to U.S. Government aerospace technology export regulations, applicant must be a 'U.S. Person' (U.S. Citizen or a Permanent Resident/Green Card Holder).

If you are a self-motivated, results-driven individual with a passion for innovation and technology, we want to hear from you!

Apply with your resume and optional cover letter (CV), including the types of engineering or technical roles you have hired.