Engineer - Preliminary Design Team

The ePlane Company is at the forefront of India's urban air mobility revolution. Incubated at IIT Madras, we are a deep-tech startup dedicated to designing and building the world's most compact electric flying taxi. Our mission is to make door-to-door flying a reality, drastically reducing commute times and decongesting our cities for a cleaner, greener future. We're a passionate team of engineers, designers, and visionaries working on cutting-edge technology, and we're looking for brilliant minds to help us take flight.

Job Description

We are looking for a highly motivated Preliminary Design Engineer to conduct the conceptual and preliminary sizing for our next-generation eVTOL and hybrid aircraft. You will be responsible for translating mission requirements into optimized aircraft configurations. In this hands-on role, you will execute initial vehicle sizing, aerodynamic analysis, and performance trade studies, serving as the technical link between the systems, aerodynamics, and structural teams.

A core responsibility of this role is establishing the baseline aircraft architecture. By conducting rigorous mission profile analyses and initial aerodynamic and structural sizing, you will mature the vehicle from a high-level concept into a solid baseline ready for the detailed design phase. Ultimately, you will ensure the preliminary design satisfies all technical specifications, performance targets, and program goals.

Design Office Responsibilities:

Additionally, you will assist in day-to-day Design Office operations and act as a bridge between design phases, including coordinating and capturing timelines and progress for specific tasks, Monitoring the status and following up on all action items across different teams that discuss during technical meetings.

• Conduct conceptual design and preliminary sizing for eVTOL and/or hybrid-electric aircraft.
• Perform comprehensive aircraft performance calculations, including Constraint Diagram, Weight Estimation, Aerodynamic Sizing, and Mission Profile Analysis.
• Utilize high proficiency in MATLAB to thoroughly understand, implement, and optimize existing in-house sizing codes, while also developing new codes from scratch for performance scripts and trade studies.
• Set up and execute initial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analyses using Ansys.

• Coordinating seamlessly with all other engineering departments to provide critical inputs, specifications, and handovers required for the detailed design phase.
• Assist in day-to-day Design Office operations, note all tasks and action items discussed during technical and cross-functional meetings, monitoring their status and following up across different teams.
• Coordinate and capture timelines and progress for specific tasks to ensure the project remains on schedule. 

• B.E/B.Tech in Aeronautical Engineering or Aerospace Engineering

• 0–2 years of experience in aircraft Conceptual design or Preliminary design(relevant internships and academic projects will be strongly considered).
• Strong analytical skills and a solid foundation in flight mechanics.
• Strong fundamental knowledge of Aircraft Performance.
• Proficient in managing engineering analysis data.

• Proficiency in MATLAB (or any other scripting language) for engineering calculations and sizing codes.
• Ability to set up and execute CFD analyses using Ansys.
• Proficiency in Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Drive, Slides, etc.) for managing project documentation, tracking action items, and coordinating Design Office tasks.

• Knowledge in aerodynamic analysis tools, specifically OpenVSP and XFLR.
• Familiarity with CAD softwares (e.g., CATIA/SolidWorks) for conceptual design and drafting.
• Understanding of aviation certification standards (e.g., AEAC No 1 of 2024, EASA SC-VTOL) and how they constrain early-stage aircraft sizing.
• Working knowledge of the full lifecycle of product development, transitioning from conceptual design to Preliminary Design Review (PDR).

• Strong analytical thinking and problem-solving ability.
• High ownership and accountability in a fast-paced environment.
• Ready to learn new concepts, stay up-to-date with state-of-the-art techniques, and implement them.
• High level of innovation, motivation, and perseverance when tackling open-ended design challenges.
• Clear technical communication with internal teams and cross-functional stakeholders.