Aerospace Engineering Manager Jobs in Reston, VA

Engineering Manager – Control Laws

About Electra

At Electra, we're building the EL9 - a nine-passenger, hybrid-electric aircraft that takes off and lands in 150 feet. Our Ultra Short technology unlocks thousands of new operating locations and enables what we call Direct Aviation: quiet, point-to-point regional travel that gets people from where they are to where they want to go, without the congestion of major airports or the noise of conventional aviation.

A global company headquartered in Manassas, VA, Electra is backed by Lockheed Martin, Honeywell, and Safran, has filed for FAA Part 23 type certification, and carries 2,000+ intent to purchase from operators worldwide. We're a team of ~100 people moving fast toward first EL9 test flights in 2027 and certification by late 2029 or 2030. Every hire matters at this stage - and this role is no exception.

The Role

As the Engineering Manager – Control Laws, you will serve as both the engineering lead and people manager responsible for development of the Control Laws for the EL9 Ultra Short aircraft.

You will inherit a baseline concept and prototype implementation and lead your team in finalizing preliminary design, driving detailed design execution, and maturing the system to a certifiable configuration.

This role requires deep expertise in flight controls and control theory as well as strong leadership capabilities to build and scale a high-performing team. You will collaborate with the flight control system team, airframe team, and flight physics team, and play a central role in bringing a novel aircraft configuration through certification.

What You'll Do

• Own the end-to-end Control Law development for the EL9 aircraft, from preliminary design through certification.
• Lead development and validation of the control law software, ensuring alignment across systems, performance, and structures.
• Build and lead a high-performing flight controls team, providing technical direction while delivering on program cost, schedule, and milestones.
• Support control law integration into the Flight Control system, including verification, and flight test
• Ensure that the control laws meets performance, safety, and handling quality requirements at the aircraft level.

What You'll Bring:

• Bachelor's degree and 10+ years of relevant experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Proven ability to lead a team and drive complex programs to execution.
• Strong understanding of flight dynamics, aircraft control theory, and handling qualities.
• Experience with model-based development, simulation environments, and control law verification.
• Experience deploying safety-critical software to a real-time embedded platform
• Experience with modeling aircraft and aircraft systems, aerodynamics, aero-elastic effects, actuators, sensors, and propulsion systems.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to balance deep technical involvement with strategic leadership responsibilities.

Bonus Points

• Experience leading control law development for novel or highly integrated aircraft configurations (e.g., STOL, eVTOL, hybrid-electric aircraft).
• Experience developing algorithms for fly-by-wire and/or stability augmentation systems, from initial concept through flight testing.
• Familiarity with industry-standard aerospace development and certification practices (DO-178, DO-331) applicable to flight software development.
• Familiarity with automated testing, CI/CD pipelines
• Experience with redundant and fault-tolerant control system architectures.
• Experience building, scaling, and managing high-performing engineering teams, including hiring, mentoring, and driving technical excellence and accountability.

Compensation

$153,000 – $185,000 annually. This range reflects the anticipated hiring range across all eligible locations; actual compensation is determined based on your relevant experience, skills, and geographic location. Total compensation includes performance bonus and comprehensive benefits.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary and equity
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance; STD, LTD, and life insurance
• Generous PTO, sick leave, and company holidays
• Paid winter break
• 401(k) with immediate vesting
• Free catered lunches, coffee, snacks, and drinks at our Manassas headquarters