Principal Engineer Applied Aerodynamics

About the role

EDGE, an advanced technology group based in Abu Dhabi focused on defence and emerging technologies, is hiring a Principal Applied Aerodynamics Engineer. The engineer takes technical ownership of the aerodynamic products assigned to the position, treating aerodynamic predictions as evidence with defined assumptions, uncertainty, configuration and validity limits, and develops a mental model of the expected flow physics before reviewing computational or experimental results.

Key responsibilities

• Develop aerodynamic concepts and configuration solutions for aircraft-level mission and performance requirements, evaluating wings, tails, canards, fuselage, control surfaces, nacelles, inlets, propulsion and stores.
• Define aerodynamic requirements and analysis plans using analytical, empirical, computational and experimental methods; set up CFD domains, meshes, boundary conditions and turbulence models, and run mesh and model-sensitivity studies.
• Conduct aerodynamic analyses (handbook, empirical, lifting-line, vortex-lattice, panel, Euler, RANS, etc.) and review surface pressures, shocks, separation, wakes and vortices.
• Develop airfoil, wing, twist, camber, thickness, spanload and tip-shape solutions, and assess high-lift systems, control effectiveness, stability and control characteristics across the flight envelope.
• Perform drag breakdowns, support wing loading, thrust-to-weight and envelope trades, and assess aerodynamic compatibility with mass properties and centre of gravity.
• Support propulsion integration, landing-gear effects, and define wind-tunnel objectives, test matrices, instrumentation and corrections; reduce and interpret wind-tunnel data.
• Reconcile analytical, CFD, wind-tunnel, ground-test, supplier and flight-test data, and maintain aerodynamic databases with traceability.
• Carry out uncertainty, sensitivity and design-of-experiments studies, support optimization, investigate anomalies, and support flight-test planning and data correlation.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in aerospace, aeronautical, mechanical, applied mathematics, physics, computational engineering or a related field; Master's or PhD in aerodynamics or CFD preferred.
• Typically 10+ years of aerospace or applied fluid-dynamics experience, including full aircraft, missile or unmanned vehicle design.
• Experience with CFD, wind-tunnel testing, aerodynamic databases, and correlating analytical, CFD, wind-tunnel and flight-test data.
• Ability to lead a significant aerodynamic work package with limited supervision and to prepare analysis reports, test plans and test reports.
• Professional proficiency in written and spoken English.

Required skills

• Proficiency with CFD tools, geometry, meshing, post-processing, scripting and automation.
• Familiarity with CAD, MATLAB, Python, C/C++ and optimization frameworks.
• Experience with lower-order aerodynamic tools, empirical methods and reduced-order models.