Full-time position | San Mateo, CA (Onsite)
Note: In accordance with export control regulations, this position requires candidates to qualify as a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual as defined under 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3)). For engagements with cleared customers, an active or obtainable U.S. security clearance is preferred but not required.
JOIN THE REVOLUTION IN ENGINEERING INNOVATION
Luminary helps engineering companies be more competitive by getting to market faster, creating better products, and reducing development risk. We do this through our Physics AI platform — the fastest and easiest way to build and deploy models that understand and instantly predict physical reality with precision. Our customers span industries from automotive and aerospace to defense, industrial, semiconductors, and energy — ranging from hyper-growth startups to Fortune 100 enterprises. Luminary is a Series B company headquartered in San Mateo, California.
YOUR IMPACT
As the Senior/Principal Lead Delivery Engineer for Aerospace, you own customer outcomes for Luminary's aerospace engagements — spanning established OEMs and the next generation building the future of flight and space. You are a dual hat — project manager and product manager — leading a matrixed value delivery team that translates the hardest problems in aircraft design, propulsion, aeroelasticity, and certification-relevant analysis and more into Physics AI solutions. You partner with the GTM team on account engagement and growth.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Own end-to-end customer outcomes across new and existing aerospace accounts — from discovery and use case scoping through model development, deployment, and embedding into customer engineering workflows.
- Author Statements of Work (SOWs), educate customers on the engagement plan, and own delivery accountability against them.
- Lead a value delivery team in a matrix structure: Applications Engineers, Applied AI/ML Scientists, Data and Platform Engineers, and selected product engineers. Set technical direction, sequence the work, remove blockers.
- Operate as a dual hat — project manager and product manager — running sprints, milestones, and risk while also choosing the right use cases and shaping the product intuition for what to build next.
- Stay hands-on-keyboard where it matters. Debug a model, restructure a data pipeline, prototype a workflow integration. Lead from the front, not from slides.
- Embrace co-engineering: work side-by-side with customers on use case development, sharing knowledge and building trust through visible, collaborative work.
- Partner with GTM team on new account engagement, GTM-to-delivery handoff, and account growth.
- Bring market and customer signal back to Product and Research, directly shaping Luminary's roadmap for aerospace use cases.
WHAT YOU BRING
- 5–10 years of experience in a technical role in aerospace — aerospace OEMs, eVTOL/UAM, space, propulsion, or aerospace-adjacent engineering software. Principal-level candidates have an extensive track record in aerospace.
- Multi-physics fluency across aerospace disciplines: aerodynamics, structural mechanics, aeroelasticity, propulsion, thermal-structural coupling, composites, or multi-physics simulation. Generalist depth across several disciplines is more valuable than world-class depth in one.
- U.S. Person required.
- Strong hands-on engineering chops — Python, scripting, simulation tools, and AI/ML workflows.
- Working knowledge of AI/ML applied to engineering — surrogate modeling, neural operators, physics-informed ML, or digital twins.
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional technical teams without direct authority.
- Product instinct, customer-facing presence, exceptional communication.
- Self-starter, persistent through iteration, willing to travel 10–25% to customer sites.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Aerospace, Mechanical, or related field.
- Prior experience at commercial aerospace OEMs (Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier, Embraer, Textron), eVTOL/UAM (Joby, Archer, Wisk, Beta, Lilium), space (SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, Relativity, Stoke), or propulsion (Rolls-Royce, GE Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, Safran).
- Hands-on experience with CFD, FEA, aeroelasticity, MDO, or certification-relevant analysis.
- Understanding of how AI-driven simulation integrates into aerospace development and certification workflows.
- Active or obtainable U.S. security clearance for engagements with cleared aerospace customers.
