Sr. Flight Controls Engineer

About Odys

Our mission at Odys is simple - we build safe, sustainable aircraft to cut travel time in half on the world's busiest corridors. Our flagship aircraft Alta enables travelers to skip the big-airport hassle by using city helipads and local airports to connect cities less than 1,000 miles apart (approx 40% of flights). And on average cut CO2 by 76% on tens of billions of flight miles globally.

To get there, we start with our UAV called Laila for commercial logistics, medical transport, humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and defense missions. We’re deploying aircraft with launch partners (Fiji Airways, Honeywell, Aramex, US Navy) beginning in late 2025 and already have firm orders for aircraft under contract.

We’re a team of expert engineers from deep tech and aerospace that focus on fast iterations loops (completed transition flight faster than our peers) combined with mastery of the aircraft certification process. Previously, our team developed custom drones, brought multiple automotive platforms into production, and electrified transportation vehicles that magnetically levitate, that roll, that fly. Together, we’ve been learning, developing, building, testing, and preparing for this challenge our entire lives.

About The Role

As a Senior Flight Controls Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the behavior of our UAVs, from initial concept to real-world flight. The Flight Dynamics and Controls team develops, implements, and validates the algorithms that enable stable, precise, and agile performance. You’ll collaborate closely with aerodynamics, mechanical, software, and flight test teams to ensure smooth integration and execution of control strategies. This is a hands-on role with direct impact on vehicle behavior through development, simulation, and real-world validation.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and tune flight control laws for a large UAV

• Develop and refine autopilot architecture, guidance and navigation algorithms

• Enhance system-level simulation models to support development and testing

• Collaborate with aerodynamics, electrical and mechanical teams to iterate rapidly on designs

• Plan and execute MIL/SIL/HIL simulations, ground tests, and flight tests

• Create test procedures and analyze flight data to verify control system performance

• Work closely with the flight test team to ensure safe and efficient execution of test campaigns

Required Qualifications

• Master’s or Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field

• 3+ years of experience in flight control system development

• Strong understanding of flight dynamics and control theory

• Experience with modern flight control architectures and FBW (Fly-by-Wire) systems

• Solid understanding of guidance, navigation and state estimation algorithms

• Proficiency in MATLAB/Simulink, C/C++, Python, and real-time embedded control implementation

• Able to work with minimal supervision in a fast-paced environment

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Embention flight computer hardware

• Experience with aircraft system identification tools (e.g., CIFER, SIDPAC) or ability to train up quickly

• Experience with CONDUIT flight control analysis and optimization tool or ability to train up quickly

• Experience with vertical takeoff and landing aircraft

• Previous experience certifying a UAV or manned aircraft flight control system

• Experience with safety-critical systems development (e.g., DO-178C, DO-254)

• Knowledge of actuator dynamics, redundancy management, and sensor fusion

• Hands-on experience with HIL/SIL testing, flight testing, and data analysis

• RC/Remote/Crewed pilot experience