Aerodynamicist

About the Company

Aerodynamicist Carlsbad, CA

About the Role

Our client has already done the hard part: designing one of the most aerodynamically efficient vehicles ever built. Your job is to make sure it stays that way — through production, iteration, and every engineering decision that touches airflow. This is a highly collaborative, detail-oriented role. You will be the aerodynamics conscience of the vehicle program — partnering daily with founders, the SVP of Engineering, and cross-functional team leads to ensure that the low-drag, high-efficiency ethos is preserved at every stage of design and build.

Responsibilities

• Own aerodynamic integrity of the production vehicle.
• Review and approve (or flag) panel gaps, fit tolerances, surface changes, and design modifications before they ship — because at Cd.
• Support engineering leads across body, chassis, thermal, and powertrain teams with aerodynamic trade-off analysis: drag vs. cooling, frontal area vs. cabin space, downforce vs. efficiency.
• Leverage CFD intelligently — knowing when simulation is sufficient, when a wind tunnel is warranted, and when Tufts tape and a GoPro on a back road will tell you everything you need. Then go do it yourself.
• Drive continuous improvement — identify opportunities to reduce drag further or improve stability with each product revision, keeping Aptera ahead of its own benchmarks.
• Get your hands dirty — instrument the vehicle for aerodynamic measurement, apply clay modifications to test surface changes, run tuft visualization, and drive the car yourself to collect data when needed. This is not a desk job.
• Ensure stability compliance — confirm that all configurations meet management-defined drag and stability requirements before sign-off.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Automotive Engineering (or equivalent demonstrated experience)
• Practical aerodynamic analysis experience: CFD, physical testing, or both
• Strong communicator — you can explain drag penalties to a mechanical engineer without being condescending

Required Skills

• Competition background strongly preferred — SCCA road racing, SAE Supermileage, Formula SAE, or a university solar car team (e.g., American Solar Challenge, World Solar Challenge). If you’ve stayed up until 2am arguing about a spoiler lip angle, you’re our kind of person.
• Hands-on CFD experience — STAR-CCM , ANSYS Fluent, OpenFOAM, or similar. You know how to set up a simulation, but more importantly, you know when not to trust it.
• Correlation with the real world – You know what to do when simulated results don’t match wind tunnel results, and those don’t match the track data.
• Systems thinking — you can hold Cd, weight, battery range, thermal management, and manufacturing cost in your head at once and communicate the trade-offs clearly to non-aero engineers.
• Execution focus — the vehicle exists. Your most important job isn’t reimagining it; it’s protecting what makes it extraordinary while helping it get better.

Preferred Skills

• Competitive racing or solar vehicle program experience
• Familiarity with automotive surface modeling (CATIA, NX, SolidWorks)
• Experience with pressure tap instrumentation, wake surveys, or flow visualization techniques
• Wind tunnel experience — academic or commercial — including instrumentation setup and data reduction
• Comfort with clay modeling and surface modification for rapid shape iteration
• Valid driver’s license and genuine comfort behind the wheel of a test vehicle