Aircraft Stress Engineer
Location: Newport News, VA
Job Type: Contract-to-Hire
Starting Pay: $55/hour, with higher pay available based on experience
Job Overview
We are seeking an Aircraft Stress Engineer to support structural analysis and engineering substantiation for aircraft modifications, repairs, and certification projects. This position evaluates aircraft structures and mechanical installations for strength, stiffness, fatigue, damage tolerance, vibration, and overall airworthiness.
The engineer will prepare technical analyses and certification documentation while working with engineering, design, production, quality, and certification teams throughout the modification and approval process.
Key Responsibilities
- Perform structural evaluations for aircraft modifications, repairs, and mechanical installations.
- Analyze static strength, fatigue, damage tolerance, vibration, thermal effects, and other structural requirements.
- Develop load paths, free-body diagrams, analytical models, engineering assumptions, and supporting calculations.
- Prepare stress reports, engineering reports, margin of safety calculations, substantiation packages, and compliance documentation.
- Review drawings, designs, and proposed modifications for structural integrity, manufacturability, maintainability, and regulatory compliance.
- Support FAA, military, customer, and other applicable certification or airworthiness requirements.
- Assist with certification documentation, compliance reports, test plans, and technical data.
- Work with Mechanical, Electrical, Certification, Production, Quality, and other engineering personnel to resolve technical issues.
- Provide engineering support during fabrication, assembly, installation, troubleshooting, testing, and aircraft modification activities.
- Participate in design reviews and provide recommendations related to structural safety, performance, reliability, and maintainability.
- Maintain analyses and engineering documentation under configuration control and company procedures.
- Contribute to improved analysis methods, engineering standards, and lessons learned.
- Perform additional engineering duties as assigned.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related engineering field from an accredited institution.
- Experience conducting structural analysis and engineering substantiation for aircraft, aerospace products, mechanical systems, or similar applications.
- Knowledge of structural mechanics, materials, fatigue, damage tolerance, vibration, FEA, classical hand calculations, and analytical evaluation methods.
- Experience preparing engineering analyses, stress reports, margin of safety calculations, and compliance documentation.
- Familiarity with aerospace materials, manufacturing methods, fastener systems, composite structures, and aircraft repair practices.
- Experience with engineering analysis software such as ANSYS, FEMAP, NASTRAN, Abaqus, Mathcad, or comparable tools.
- Strong written, verbal, analytical, and organizational skills.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office.
- Ability to work in both office and aircraft hangar environments.
- U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Resident status.
- Familiarity with configuration management, engineering release procedures, and aerospace quality systems such as AS9100.
- Experience working with customers, DERs, FAA representatives, OEMs, suppliers, or certification authorities.
Preferred Experience
- 5+ years supporting aircraft modification, repair, integration, or aerospace product development programs.
- Experience with FAA certification, STC projects, military airworthiness, or other regulated aerospace programs.
- Knowledge of MIL-HDBK-516C and military aircraft modification requirements.
- Experience with static strength, fatigue, damage tolerance, vibration, thermal, or finite element analysis.
- Experience preparing certification packages, compliance documentation, test plans, and engineering substantiation.
- Background supporting aircraft production, modification, installation, ground testing, or flight test activities.
