Senior Transient Dynamic FEA Engineer (LS-Dyna)

CFD Research delivers innovative technology solutions within the Aerospace & Defense, Biomedical & Life Sciences, Intelligence & Sensing, and Energy & Materials industries. With headquarters and laboratory facilities in Huntsville, Alabama, the company also operates offices and labs in Dayton, Ohio, Hollywood, Alabama, and Fort Walton Beach, Florida. CFD Research is an ISO9001:AS9100D registered and CMMI Level II appraised company, 100% employee-owned, and recognized as a top growing company by Inc. Magazine.

About the role

The transient dynamic finite element engineer will evaluate high-speed dynamic damage events in the time domain, such as drops and bird strikes, to support the design, verification, and manufacture of aerospace structures. The position is based at CFD Research’s Huntsville Headquarters, collaborating closely with structural, fluid, and thermal analysis teams to provide rapid design recommendations. The candidate will interface regularly with the Prototype, Test, and Evaluation Division engineers in Hollywood, AL, requiring travel to the Hollywood Engineering Test Center approximately three times per month. The role offers the opportunity to grow and eventually lead the high-fidelity structural analysis team.

Responsibilities

• Develop and validate time-domain FEA models to analyze transient events, including drops, crashes, foreign object damage (FOD) strikes, and short-duration impacts.
• Produce engineering reports and documentation to support requirement verification and design reviews.
• Support root-cause investigations of field impact issues and propose corrective actions.
• Apply progressive damage modeling in FEA and correlate model results with test data.
• Advise or direct material testing procedures, with knowledge of material behaviors, including rate sensitivities and thermal-structural coupling.
• Work with remote HPC clusters and submit jobs to a bash scheduler.

Requirements

• U.S. Citizenship and eligibility to obtain and maintain a secret security clearance.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering.
• 6+ years of hands-on experience with FEA, including 2+ years using LS-Dyna.
• Strong understanding of structural dynamics and material behaviors, including rate sensitivities.
• Familiarity with high-performance computing (HPC) and large-scale models.
• Proficiency with LS-Dyna; experience with Abaqus Explicit is desirable.
• Experience with Python for post-processing tabular data or creating automation macros.

Qualifications

• Active secret security clearance.
• Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering.
• Experience with rotordynamics and associated analysis methods.
• Background in applied metallurgy.

Benefits

• Competitive salaries with performance-based annual pay increases and bonuses.
• Employer-matching 401(k) and Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
• Comprehensive insurance package, including medical, vision, and dental.
• Company-paid leave, compensation time, parental leave, and disability insurance.
• Accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) and life insurance.
• Performance appraisals twice a year, with group and individual bonuses for exceptional performance.