MDAO Engineer

About Mach Industries

Founded in 2023, Mach Industries is a rapidly growing defense technology company focused on developing next-generation autonomous defense platforms. At the core of our mission is the commitment to delivering scalable, decentralized defense systems that enhance the strategic capabilities of the United States and its allies. With a workforce of approximately 350 employees, we operate with startup agility and ambition.

Our vision is to redefine the future of warfare through cutting-edge manufacturing, innovation at speed, and unwavering focus on national security. We are dedicated to solving the next generation of warfare with lethal systems that deter kinetic conflict and protect global security.

The Role

Mach Industries is seeking an MDAO Engineer to develop the engineering models, software, and optimization workflows that enable rapid, rigorous vehicle design across Mach's product suite. You will help shape an expanding MDAO capability and build the tools that Conceptual Design and Operational Performance engineers use to evaluate vehicle concepts and make better design decisions.

This is a software and model development role grounded in aerospace engineering. You will create reusable multidisciplinary analysis capability, connect models across vehicle disciplines, and advance the optimization and automation methods that make design studies faster and more reliable. You will also work directly with the engineers using these tools, including applying new capabilities to real vehicle studies when needed.

This role is part of MDAO within Mach's Vehicle Design and Performance organization, alongside Conceptual Design and Operational Performance. Conceptual Design creates, Operational Performance assesses, and MDAO enables. You will collaborate across Aerodynamics, Propulsion, Structures, GNC, and other engineering teams, with opportunities to influence both the technical direction of our MDAO capability and the vehicles it supports.

The ideal candidate combines strong engineering software development skills with sound physical judgment and experience in multidisciplinary analysis or optimization. More experienced candidates will own the software architecture, optimization methods, and development standards and set the technical direction for MDAO at Mach; earlier-career candidates will build toward that scope through hands-on model development, framework contributions, and direct mentorship.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop reusable engineering models, software components, and computational workflows for multidisciplinary vehicle analysis and optimization.
• Architect and extend the computational architecture and interfaces that connect aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, mass properties, controls, mission performance, and parameterized geometry.
• Develop derivative-enabled models and workflows for efficient gradient-based optimization, including appropriate methods for computing and verifying sensitivities.
• Build and maintain practical software and model-development practices, including clear interfaces, version control, documentation, automated testing, reproducibility, and validation.
• Develop multi-fidelity analysis capabilities using higher-fidelity simulation, ground test, flight test, and operational data to improve model accuracy.
• Improve the performance, robustness, and usability of MDAO workflows as the number of models, users, and vehicle programs grows.
• Partner with conceptual design, configuration, and performance engineers to identify high-value development priorities and ensure the resulting tools support real design decisions.
• Apply and evaluate new capabilities through vehicle sizing, configuration trade, mission analysis, and performance studies as needed.
• Contribute to setting the technical direction for MDAO at Mach and, as experience grows, mentor engineers who contribute to or use its models and workflows.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related technical field.
• 2+ years of relevant engineering experience in engineering software, computational design, MDAO, vehicle design, or optimization.
• Experience developing engineering models, analysis software, or optimization workflows for aerospace vehicles or other complex physical systems.
• Working knowledge of aerospace vehicle design and the interactions between aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, mass properties, controls, and mission performance.
• Familiarity with conceptual design, preliminary design, configuration and sizing, mission performance, or operational performance analysis.
• Software development skills in a scientific computing language, with the ability and interest to develop reliable, reusable engineering software and work within collaborative software development practices.
• Experience verifying and validating engineering models and communicating their assumptions and limitations.
• Strong engineering judgment and the ability to collaborate effectively across technical disciplines.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related field.
• Experience building or extending shared multidisciplinary analysis or optimization software.
• Experience with coupled, large-scale, or multi-fidelity engineering optimization.
• Experience with UAV, aircraft, missile, or defense product development.
• Experience incorporating test, flight, or operational data into engineering models.
• Experience with or strong exposure to gradient-based optimization, derivative computation, and numerical methods for engineering applications.
• Experience with surrogate modeling, uncertainty quantification, or sensitivity analysis.
• Experience establishing model validation, software development, or workflow standards for an engineering team.

MDAO engineers at Mach build the models, workflows, and development practices that make multidisciplinary vehicle design faster, more rigorous, and more scalable. You will contribute capability that gets used on real programs from the start, while developing the multidisciplinary perspective needed to take on increasingly complex models and workflows. Success is measured the same way here as across the organization: capability that engineers trust for real decisions and reuse from one vehicle to the next.

Additional Requirements

• Available to work extended hours and weekends as needed

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here .

Engineer $115,000 — $150,000 USD Senior Engineer $155,000 — $195,000 USD

At Mach, we believe that compensation is more than just a paycheck. It's a comprehensive package designed to reward the time, skills, and expertise you bring to our team. We are committed to offering competitive compensation that is equitable, transparent, and aligned with market trends.

Key Elements of Our Compensation Philosophy:

• Competitive Salaries: We continuously research market rates to ensure our salaries are competitive with those in our industry and geographic location.