Senior Engineer: Airframe Designer (Aerostructure) at Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

About the job:

The CSIR has a vacancy for a Senior Engineer: Airframe Designer (Aerostructure). in the Aeronautics Systems Impact Area within the Defence and Security cluster. The incumbent will be responsible to support the integration of stores with aircraft and the provision of aeronautical services to industry and be part of the design team of an innovative and unprecedented unmanned aircraft. This position is based in Pretoria.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the design, development and testing of new composite, metallic and plastic lightweight aircraft structures;
• Define part requirements, create designs, perform simulation tests and validate final hardware components;
• Use modern tools and techniques to optimise designs in multidisciplinary teams;
• Implement and improve manufacturing processes;
• Support the development of project engineering plans;
• Document design work and support justification of compliance with aviation regulators.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

• A Bachelor’s degree in aeronautical/mechanical engineering with at least five years’ experience working in an aircraft/unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) design environment.
• A Master’s degree in aeronautical/mechanical engineering will be advantageous;

Experience in the following is essential:

• Testing aircraft structures;
• Structural manufacturing methods and processes;
• Unmanned aircraft structures;
• Aircraft structural design and analysis methods using computer-aided design (CAD), hand calculations and finite element analysis (FEA);
• Aircraft structural materials including metallics, composites and plastics.

Knowledge/or experience in the following will be advantageous:

• Aircraft and/or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) design regulations;
• Computerized structural design and analysis systems;
• Design of complex composite parts including bonded & bolted composite/metallic assemblies for aircraft;
• Be skilled in computer programming.

South African citizenship and security clearance are required for this position.

 Closing date: 28 November 2023