Senior Flight Physics Engineer in Farnborough

AALTO, a global leader in Stratospace based in Farnborough, is an Airbus subsidiary that manufactures, operates, and delivers services with its solar-powered, stratospheric platform: Zephyr. Zephyr’s persistence enables continuous flight for months at a time, with a current flight-time record of over 67 days in the stratosphere. From above 60,000+ft, or 20km above ground, AALTO can deliver several applications including direct-to-device connectivity and high-resolution Earth observation.

AALTO operates in a new operational layer between most of air traffic and low-Earth orbit, Stratospace, where high-altitude platforms led by Zephyr deliver services to commercial and government partners. We can help monitor environments, observe borders, track natural disasters, and connect unconnected communities.

As a Senior Flight Physics Engineer, you will take a leading role in shaping the performance, stability, controllability, and safe operation of the Zephyr HAPS platform. You will work across aerodynamics, flight dynamics, flight control laws, flight loads, and simulation, turning complex engineering challenges into robust, certifiable solutions that support the continued evolution of an innovative, high-altitude autonomous aircraft.

This role suits someone who enjoys technical ownership, thrives in a fast-moving environment, and can bring both deep subject matter expertise and practical engineering judgement to a highly collaborative team.

Responsibilities To Include:

• Lead the derivation, review, and management of flight physics, flight control, and system-level requirements, ensuring clear traceability from stakeholder needs through to verification evidence.
• Define, develop, and refine flight control laws, automation algorithms, and GNC architectures for autonomous high-altitude flight operations.
• Identify failure modes, assess handling qualities, and develop robust contingency strategies that protect aircraft safety and mission continuity.
• Translate complex engineering intent into high-quality software and system requirements that are precise, testable, and suitable for implementation by software and avionics teams.
• Manage interface and allocation requirements across onboard systems, ensuring flight physics assumptions and constraints are clearly understood across disciplines.
• Plan, support, and analyse flight tests required for envelope expansion, stability and control validation, performance assessment, and safe progression of test campaigns.
• Build, maintain, and run flight dynamics simulation models, including MATLAB and Simulink-based analysis, to support design decisions, verification activity, and flight test readiness.
• Analyse flight test telemetry and simulation outputs to identify trends, validate models, resolve anomalies, and recommend practical engineering actions.
• Provide technical leadership within defined work packages, actively driving deliverables, managing technical risk, and supporting delivery to agreed quality, cost, and schedule targets.
• Collaborate with internal subject matter experts and wider engineering stakeholders, and support overseas flight trials when required.

Skills And Knowledge Required:

• Degree or Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering, Control Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, or a closely related discipline.
• Significant experience in flight dynamics, stability and control, flight control systems, or GNC within aerospace, aviation, autonomous aircraft, UAV, HAPS, or a comparable safety-critical environment.
• Strong technical understanding of aircraft stability, flight dynamics, aerodynamics, control theory, and flight control law development.
• Proficiency with MATLAB, Simulink, and associated modelling, simulation, and analysis toolsets.
• Experience defining requirements, supporting verification activity, and producing clear technical documentation for complex engineering systems.
• Ability to interpret flight test data and telemetry, extract meaningful engineering insight, and communicate recommendations that support safe test progression.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary teams, influencing decisions through sound engineering judgement and clear communication.
• Comfortable taking ownership of technical work packages, balancing analytical rigour with practical delivery in a fast-paced engineering environment.
• Willingness to support flight campaigns and, where required, deploy overseas for flight test or engineering activities.

In addition to an attractive market-aligned salary, we offer:

• Rewarding Excellence: Benefit from our short-term incentive plan that rewards your hard work and dedication.
• Enjoy Your Time Off: Benefit from 25 days of holiday to relax and recharge.
• Stay Healthy: We’ve got your health covered with private medical insurance, along with dental and optical cash back.
• Secure Your Future: Take advantage of our personal pension plan to ensure a comfortable retirement.
• Peace of Mind: Our income protection and life assurance schemes are there to support you when you need it most.
• Getting around: Drive the latest vehicles with our discounted salary sacrifice scheme.
• We Care About You: Our employee assistance programme is always available to provide the support you need.
• Perks Galore: Enjoy a range of employee discounts via Perkbox, from household goods to travel!

AALTO is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, or pregnancy and maternity.