Drone Propulsion Engineer

About the role

You will join a drone technology company owning the propulsion system: motors, ESCs, and propellers that convert battery energy into thrust. You size, test, and optimize propulsion chains for efficiency, reliability, and acoustic performance across the product line. Endurance, payload capacity, and noise all trace back to your decisions, which makes propulsion one of the highest-leverage engineering seats in the company. You will own the propulsion test lab, keeping thrust stands calibrated and test procedures rigorous, and you will publish propulsion performance data that the systems, controls, and sales teams rely on when sizing aircraft and committing to endurance figures. You will also establish the acoustic testing program that quantifies propeller noise signatures, since community noise limits increasingly decide which missions get flown.

What you will achieve

• Select and validate motor, ESC, and propeller combinations that meet thrust, efficiency, and acoustic targets for each airframe and mission profile.
• Increase flight endurance measurably through propulsion optimization, verified on thrust stands and confirmed in instrumented flight test.
• Reduce propulsion-related field failures by establishing qualification test standards covering thermal, vibration, dust ingress, and lifecycle endurance.
• Characterize propulsion performance across voltage, temperature, and altitude ranges, producing data the controls and systems teams design against with confidence.
• Drive cost and weight out of propulsion assemblies through disciplined supplier evaluation and design-for-manufacturing improvements.

What you will bring

Must-haves

• 2-5 years of experience with electric propulsion systems for UAVs, eVTOL, or high-performance RC aircraft, including motor and ESC selection.
• Hands-on experience with thrust stands and dynamometers; you can generate and interpret thrust, torque, efficiency, and thermal data independently.
• Understanding of brushless motor fundamentals including Kv, winding configurations, and pole count effects on performance.
• Knowledge of ESC technologies including field-oriented control, and how ESC firmware settings affect efficiency and responsiveness.
• Knowledge of propeller aerodynamics: pitch, diameter, and blade count tradeoffs and their effects on efficiency and noise.
• Ability to model propulsion performance in Python or MATLAB and correlate models with measured test data.
• Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical, or electrical engineering.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with variable-pitch or coaxial propulsion configurations.
• Background in acoustic testing and propeller noise reduction techniques.
• Knowledge of high-voltage propulsion architectures and their safety implications.
• Familiarity with propeller structural analysis and blade failure modes.