Principal Engineer - Performance

ABOUT THE ROLE
The Principal Engineer - Performance is a senior technical leadership role within the Sizing and Performance function, responsible for defining, analyzing, predicting, and substantiating vehicle performance across the full aerospace development lifecycle.
The role translates mission needs and system requirements into explicit performance constraints and develops technically rigorous point-performance, mission-analysis, trajectory, sizing, and optimization assessments. The Principal Engineer integrates aerodynamic, propulsion, mass properties, structural, energy, systems, and operational data to establish credible vehicle performance and identify key design drivers, sensitivities, margins, and limitations.
The position serves as a technical authority for performance analysis and substantiation, ensuring that performance results are configuration-controlled, traceable, appropriately validated, and communicated with clear assumptions and uncertainty. The role also provides technical leadership, supports major design and program reviews, contributes to flight and ground testing, mentors engineers, and drives improvements to performance methods, models, automation, and digital-engineering practices.
The Principal Engineer operates in a multidisciplinary, safety-critical and configuration-controlled aerospace environment, supporting programs from concept development through detailed design, testing, qualification, production, and operational support.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Translate mission and system requirements into measurable performance objectives, constraints, mission profiles, and analysis cases.
• Lead aircraft and aerospace vehicle performance analysis covering sizing constraints, takeoff, landing, climb, cruise, range, endurance, ceiling, speed, maneuver, and degraded conditions.
• Develop and maintain point-performance, mission-analysis, trajectory, sizing, optimization, and performance prediction models.
• Integrate aerodynamic, propulsion, mass properties, structural, energy, systems, and operational data to establish credible vehicle-level performance.
• Conduct configuration, architecture, technology, and mission trade studies, including sensitivity, optimization, and uncertainty analyses.
• Identify performance drivers, active constraints, limitations, risks, and design sensitivities; quantify impacts of key design and requirement changes.
• Establish and manage performance budgets, allocations, margins, reserves, and uncertainty in accordance with approved requirements and assumptions.
• Verify and validate performance models using analytical checks, test data, simulations, and relevant engineering evidence; maintain model traceability and configuration control.
• Support performance test planning, ground and flight testing, data reduction, test correlation, and model updates.
• Produce performance substantiation, mission-analysis, trade-study, technical assessment, margin, and test-correlation documentation.
• Support major engineering reviews and program milestones, including SRR, SFR, PDR, CDR, TRR, flight readiness, qualification, FCA, PCA, MRR, and PRR, as applicable.
• Provide technical leadership for assigned performance work packages and challenge unsupported assumptions, inconsistent data, and inadequate performance margins.
• Develop practical recovery options when requirements are not met and quantify associated technical and program impacts.
• Mentor engineers, conduct peer reviews, and contribute to performance methods, standards, reusable models, automation, and digital-engineering practices.
• Ensure performance analyses are technically sound, reproducible, traceable, configuration-controlled, and suitable for engineering decision-making.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Aeronautical, Mechanical, Systems, Electrical, Energy, Applied Mathematics, or a closely related engineering discipline.
• Typically 10+ years of relevant aircraft, aerospace vehicle design, flight mechanics, sizing, or performance engineering experience.
• Substantial experience predicting or substantiating performance of an aircraft, missile, unmanned vehicle, rotorcraft, advanced-air-mobility vehicle, or other complex aerospace system.
• Strong technical knowledge of:
  • Aircraft and aerospace vehicle design
  • Flight mechanics
  • Aerodynamics
  • Propulsion
  • Mass properties
  • Energy systems
  • Mission analysis
  • Performance prediction and substantiation
• Demonstrated experience in constraint analysis, mission performance, trajectory analysis, fuel/energy estimation, and performance modeling.
• Experience analyzing applicable vehicle performance parameters such as takeoff, landing, climb, cruise, range, endurance, ceiling, speed, acceleration, maneuver, recovery, and degraded-mode capability.
• Experience developing performance diagrams, trade studies, sensitivity analyses, performance budgets, and technical reports.
• Experience integrating aerodynamic, propulsion, mass, structural, systems, and operational data.
• Experience with uncertainty analysis, performance margins, reserves, risk, and sensitivity assessment.
• Experience verifying, validating, benchmarking, and correlating engineering performance models.
• Proficiency with engineering computation and data-analysis tools such as MATLAB, Python, Modelica, or equivalent.
• Familiarity with CAD/parametric geometry, CFD, flight dynamics, systems engineering, requirements management, PLM, and configuration-management processes.
• Experience supporting aerospace design reviews, testing, qualification, and performance substantiation activities.
• Experience producing controlled engineering models, assumptions registers, design descriptions, substantiation reports, verification evidence, and technical documentation.
• Demonstrated ability to lead a significant technical or performance work package with limited supervision.
• Professional proficiency in written and spoken English.
• Ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary, safety-critical, quality-controlled, security-sensitive, and configuration-controlled aerospace environments.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Aircraft Design, Propulsion, Systems Engineering, Multidisciplinary Design Optimization, or a related field.
• Experience as a technical lead for vehicle sizing, performance, mission analysis, or performance substantiation on a major aerospace program.
• Experience across multiple vehicle classes, such as:
  • Fixed-wing aircraft
  • UAV/UAS
  • eVTOL/advanced air mobility
  • Rotorcraft
  • Missiles or expendable vehicles
  • High-altitude long-endurance vehicles
  • Supersonic or hypersonic vehicles
• Advanced knowledge of multidisciplinary design analysis and optimization, including DOE, surrogate models, response surfaces, robust optimization, and uncertainty quantification.
• Experience developing numerical trajectory and time-domain simulation models.
• Experience with hybrid-electric, battery-electric, fuel-cell, hydrogen, solar, or other advanced propulsion/energy architectures.
• Experience with propulsion-airframe integration, installed thrust/power, propulsive efficiency, energy management, and detailed thrust/power bookkeeping.
• Experience with aerodynamic database integration, trimmed drag, aerodynamic uncertainty, interpolation/extrapolation assessment, and CFD/wind-tunnel correlation.
• Experience supporting performance flight testing, including test planning, data reduction, atmospheric correction, parameter estimation, uncertainty analysis, and model correlation.
• Experience developing approved or operational performance data, flight-manual data, mission-planning datasets, ground-control-station data, or operator planning tools.
• Experience supporting certification, qualification, airworthiness, or regulatory performance compliance activities.
• Experience with formal engineering review and lifecycle processes including AoA, SRR, SFR, SAR, PDR, CDR, TRR, MRR, PRR, FCA, and PCA.
• Experience implementing configuration-controlled engineering software, automated regression testing, model governance, digital engineering, and digital-thread practices.
• Strong understanding of aerospace requirements, verification and validation, configuration management, and technical data governance.
• Demonstrated experience mentoring engineers and establishing engineering methods, standards, reusable models, and technical best practices.
• Experience working in safety-critical, cybersecurity-controlled, export-controlled, or security-sensitive aerospace environments.
• Strong technical communication skills, including the ability to explain performance predictions, assumptions, sensitivities, uncertainties, active constraints, and design implications to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

WHY CHOOSE THE COMPANY
Launched in November 2019, the company's name is one of the world's leading advanced technology groups, established to develop agile, bold and disruptive solutions for defence and beyond, and to be a catalyst for change and transformation. It is dedicated to bringing breakthrough innovations, products, and services to market with greater speed and efficiency, to position the UAE as a leading global hub for future industries, and to creating clear paths within the sector for the next generation of highly skilled talent to thrive.
At the company, the real investment goes beyond compensation. Through our dedicated learning academy and digital learning platforms, employees have access to extensive opportunities to develop new skills, deepen their expertise, and advance their careers. Combined with the freedom to innovate, strong career support, and the opportunity to collaborate with world-class talent from across the globe, the company is a place where you can continue to grow, keep learning, and turn ambitious ideas into meaningful outcomes.
Working at the company also comes with a package that genuinely reflects how much we value our people. Salaries are highly competitive and tax-free and, depending on your role and seniority, benefits can include family visas, annual flight tickets, medical insurance for you and your dependents, and education allowances for your children.