Sr Structural Engineer – Fatigue and Damage Tolerance Lead
Listed on 2026-02-28
-
Engineering
Aerospace / Aviation / Avionics, Mechanical Engineer, Systems Engineer
Overview
The ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance), Aviation, and Security (IAS) business area is a leader in ISR and aviation, it is a leading prime manned and unmanned aircraft systems integrator for innovative, high-performance ISR and aviation systems. Its end-to-end Command, Control, Computers, Communications and Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (C4
ISR) capabilities encompass design, integration, test, certification, ground/flight training and complete logistics support. IAS tailors solutions to customer cost, performance, and schedule requirements and designs to consistently exceed expectations – with an unrivaled record of on time and on (or under) budget deliveries.
SNC has led thoughtful and disruptive change in the aerospace and defense industry for the past 60 years and now, we’re applying this tenacity and expertise to the U.S. Air Force’s (USAF) Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) mission. Join the SNC-led SAOC team and be a part of exciting and meaningful work to modernize and deliver the next-generation SAOC aircraft trusted by the President, Secretary of Defense and Chairs of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to ensure continued critical command, control and communication during national emergencies.
If you’re passionate about building the airborne command post of the future, consider SNC for your next mission. Learn more about NC3 and SAOC here ().
If you like solving problems and working with complex materials and systems, join our amazing team! As a Structural Engineer, you will be using your skills and expertise to design, evaluate, and certify our cutting edge products and services. You ll examine complex metallic structures and systems. Your technical duties involve analysis and development of fatigue and damage tolerance analysis and certification.
ResponsibilitiesPerform structural fatigue and damage tolerance analysis of aircraft modifications, including preparation of technical documentation required for airworthiness
Develop mission profiles and usage spectrums for use in service life analysis
Lead a team of F&DT engineers and serve as an expert for fatigue and fracture
Possesses expertise in industry best practices for analyzing and designing airframe primary structures and load paths
Collaborates with customers and regulatory agencies to establish and uphold certification processes that ensure compliance with requirements.
Skilled in creating free body diagrams, calculating reaction forces, analyzing internal load distributions, identifying local stress concentrations, and evaluating operational usage environments
Developing and disseminating processes, methods, and tools specifically for fatigue and damage tolerance analysis
Guiding and mentoring colleagues
Working to certify analysis methods and structures of various aircraft
Coordinate with certification team and certification authorities to architect program F&DT plan, ultimately ending in FAA (or other authority, i.e., USAF, NAVAIR, etc) certified products
Bachelor s of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Civil Engineering or other related discipline and typically 10 or more years of relevant experience
Higher education may substitute for relevant experience
Thorough understanding of engineering principles and practices
Advanced knowledge of Fatigue and Damage Tolerance Analyses - Miner's Rule
Experience performing fatigue and damage tolerance analysis utilizing tools such as NASGRO or AFGROW
Ability to author substantiation reports
Ability to work in multi-disciplinary design and development teams
Background in the Aerospace and Defense Industry
Ability to perform classical analysis using industry standard hand calculation methods
Knowledge of industry-standard mechanical design principles, to include, but not limited to model-based definition, material hardware selection, manufacturing and production processes
Author process development documents
At Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) we deliver customer-focused technology and best-of-breed integrations in the aerospace and defense sectors. SNC has been honored as one of…
(If this job is in fact in your jurisdiction, then you may be using a Proxy or VPN to access this site, and to progress further, you should change your connectivity to another mobile device or PC).