Senior Cfd Engineer Jobs in Rhode Island (NOW HIRING)

At REGENT, we're on a mission to revolutionize regional transportation between coastal cities. We're not just building vehicles, we're creating a new category of transportation: the Seaglider. These groundbreaking wing-in-ground-effect craft travel just above the water's surface, combining the speed of an airplane with the low operating costs of a boat. Capable of 180 miles at 180 mph on today's battery tech (and up to 400 miles with next-gen batteries), Seagliders will unlock fast, affordable, and sustainable coastal transit for passengers and cargo - connecting cities, islands, and communities like never before.
Backed by leading investors and powered by a team of passionate, forward-thinking engineers, builders, and operators, we're now scaling from a breakthrough prototype to full production - and building the team to make it happen.
Role Overview
As the Senior Manager, Structures, you'll lead the team responsible for one of the most fundamental aspects of a safe, certifiable vehicle - ensuring our Seaglider can withstand everything it encounters in service, and proving it to the standards required for certification.
You'll join an existing team of capable engineers and become their functional home: setting technical standards, developing careers, and building a cohesive, disciplined group that programs across REGENT can rely on. You'll own the quality and consistency of structural analysis, margin documentation, and certification artifacts - not just for one program, but as a function.
Working closely with Loads & Dynamics, Flight Physics, and Manufacturing, you'll own the structural side of critical cross-functional interfaces: how loads are applied, how margins are calculated, how FEM fidelity is maintained, and how test correlation closes the loop between analysis and reality.
This is a player-coach role. You'll lead and develop the team while staying technically engaged - doing hands-on work alongside the team and earning credibility through depth, not just authority. If you're energized by building something rigorous from the inside out, we'd be thrilled to have you on the team.
What You'll Do

• Lead and Develop the Structures Team: Own the people side of the Structures function - conducting 1:1s, building development plans, identifying skill gaps, and creating a team identity engineers want to be part of. In a matrix org, you're their functional home.
• Establish Structural Analysis Standards: Define and enforce the discipline's standards for analysis methods, documentation, configuration control, and review processes - ensuring consistent quality and traceability regardless of which program the work supports.
• Own Structural Substantiation and Certification Approach: Lead the team's work toward certification-ready artifacts - margin documentation, allowables basis, and compliance approaches for structural substantiation across programs.
• Drive the Composites Knowledge Base: Own the composites allowables and design-values roadmap - understanding what data exists, what testing is needed, and what interim assumptions are in use. Build the team's depth in composite laminate design and analysis.
• Manage Key Cross-Functional Interfaces: Partner with Loads & Dynamics on load application, margining conventions, and FEM integration. Coordinate with Flight Physics on CFD-to-FEM workflows. Work with Manufacturing on design-for-manufacturability and how process constraints feed into structural design.
• Own Structural Test Planning and Correlation: Define test plans, manage building-block test programs, and own the process for closing the loop between analysis predictions and test results - building a reusable capability the function can apply across programs.

What You'll Bring

• Structural Engineering Depth: Deep, hands-on expertise in aerospace structural engineering, with a strong background in both composite and metallic structure - someone who can do the work and teach it.
• Functional Management Experience: Proven experience in a functional management or discipline-lead role with real people management responsibility - hiring, development, and performance - distinct from program execution leadership.
• Composites Expertise: Extensive hands-on experience with composite laminate design, analysis methods, and structural test - including familiarity with manufacturing processes (autoclave, infusion, OOA) and how they feed into design decisions.
• FEA Proficiency: Proficient with structural FEA tools (Nastran preferred) - has built and interrogated GFEM or detailed models and understands the assumptions behind them.
• Structural Substantiation and Certification Experience: Direct experience leading or owning structural analysis in support of a certification or classification program - familiarity with how structural margins, load factors, and safety factors connect to the certification basis.
• Cross-Functional Interface Experience: Demonstrated experience working at the structural loads interface - understanding how loads are applied, how margining conventions work, and how FEM fidelity and test correlation tie together.
• Team-Building Track Record: Demonstrated experience developing engineers' careers, establishing discipline-wide standards, and building a cohesive technical team - ideally in a matrix environment.

Who We're Looking For

• Collaborative Team Player: You believe that great things happen when teams work together. You communicate effectively and collaborate with engineers, stakeholders, and other cross-functional teams to align on goals and move projects forward. You bring people together, ensuring that everyone is on the same page and moving towards a shared vision.
• Creative Problem Solver: You thrive on tackling complex structural challenges and finding rigorous, inventive solutions. Whether you're closing a stubborn negative margin, untangling a tricky load-path or FEM correlation problem, or making a sound engineering call under uncertainty during a building-block test campaign, you bring a practical, disciplined mindset to every problem. You don't just solve the analysis in front of you - you improve methods, anticipate downstream impacts on manufacturing and certification, and turn one-off fixes into repeatable standards that raise the bar across programs.
• Adaptable & Agile: In a fast-paced, ever-evolving startup environment, you quickly adapt to changing priorities and requirements. You approach challenges with a calm, resilient mindset, and know how to pivot and adjust your approach as needed, ensuring that progress continues without missing a beat.
• Innovative Mindset: You're driven by curiosity and a passion for technology. You're passionate about driving continuous improvement, embracing new technologies and methodologies to enhance efficiency, quality, and team performance.

What We Offer

• Competitive compensation including a robust equity incentive plan.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance - we cover 100% of your premiums.
• 401(k) with company matching, so you can plan for the future.
• Generous flexible time off, paid parental leave, and company-wide holiday breaks.
• Relocation packages available for those moving to join our team.
• Daily, free catered lunches
• Learning & professional development opportunities

If you're ready to take on an exciting challenge, grow with us, and make a lasting impact, we want to hear from you. Even if you don't meet every requirement, but you see yourself contributing to our mission, we encourage you to apply! We value diverse skillsets and experiences and believe in the potential of passionate individuals to make a big impact.
Equal Opportunity Employer
REGENT is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive work environment. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law.