What are the responsibilities and job description for the Flight Performance Engineer position at Flight Science?
About Us
Flight Science is building next-generation operations software for the airline industry, giving flight operations teams intelligent tools that improve efficiency, communication, and decision-making. Our In-Flight Optimization system uses real-time flight tracking, weather, and airspace data to deliver recommendations that save fuel, avoid turbulence, and improve on-time performance.
Role Overview
The Flight Performance Engineer is responsible for aircraft performance models that are used to estimate fuel flow, time and distance traveled, aerodynamic characteristics, and ultimately the future path of an aircraft along its flight. These estimates allow us to understand the current state of the aircraft from a set of observations and produce recommendations to optimize its future state.
Estimation is core to Flight Science’s in-flight optimization product and other future platform modules, so this role is highly visible and key to our success. As an early member of the team, you’ll have the opportunity to work directly with airline customers and alongside an experienced group of engineers, researchers, and product specialists.
Key Responsibilities
- Use historical flight data, manufacturer data, aircraft telemetry, and observations to develop, tune, and validate custom aircraft performance models
- Collaborate with software engineers to integrate performance models and flight estimation algorithms into production-ready systems
- Consistently measure and improve the accuracy of flight estimates across multiple aircraft types, flight phases, and airline-specific procedures
- Work closely with software engineers and researchers to prototype and deliver new planning and real-time trajectory optimization features
Requirements
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent experience
- Strong understanding of aerodynamic theory, propulsion performance, and flight mechanics
- Proficiency with Python tools for data analysis, visualization, and modeling
- Hands-on experience with machine learning, operations research, convex or nonlinear programming, or similar techniques
Preferred Qualifications
- Working familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, version control, automated testing, command-line-tools, Linux, and cloud-native infrastructure (AWS preferred)
- Prior experience with fixed-wing aircraft performance modeling, flight planning, or trajectory optimization
- Knowledge of airline operations, commercial aviation, or air traffic management practices
- Exposure to Rust, C , or similar programming languages