Team Lead Research & Technology (m/w/d) - Aerospace

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES:
The What: As the Team Lead Research & Technology at Blackwave, you will lead the R&T team to assess technical feasibility for our future products, guiding innovations from initial ideation to the Minimum Viable Product (MVP). You will be the technical architect of our research initiatives, ensuring that experimental concepts translate into scalable, high-performance aerospace solutions.

The Why: At Blackwave, we’re on a mission to redefine what’s possible in lightweight structures for space and aerospace applications. Your role is critical in exploring "the crazy things" and pioneering the next generation of composite technologies, making our future products fail-safe, efficient, and technically superior. 
YOUR MISSION • Define the Future: Establish and own the R&T road map for domains such as composite structures, metal composite interfaces, and manufacturing processes, aligning them with our COPV and space hardware strategy.
• Master the Lifecycle: Own end-to-end technology projects from requirements definition and concept development through to risk assessment and validation, ensuring a smooth handover to industrialization and series production.
• Standardize Innovation: Turn “one-off R&T” into reusable standards by building and maintaining robust technology documentation, including design rules, process specifications, and work instructions.
• Fuel Strategic Growth: Support customer acquisition and project bids by contributing technical concepts, risk evaluations, and R&T content to proposals and ROM estimates.
• Lead and Mentor: Lead and coach multidisciplinary team members to grow their capabilities in step with the technology road map.
• Collaborate and Communicate: Internally, work and communicate seamlessly with teams across Blackwave ,from development to testing, while identifying and driving external collaborations with suppliers, institutes, and partners (e.g.funded projects).

YOUR PROFILE:
• Degree: Master’s degree or higher in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field; a PhD in composites or structures is a plus.
• Experience: At least 3-5 years of professional experience in aerospace, space, or high-performance composites, including handson development of structures or pressure vessels.
• Leadership: Proven experience leading technical topics and teams, ideally in afast-growinghardware startup or agile engineering environment.
• Hard Skills: Strong analytical and scientific thinking with the ability to structure complex problems and manage multiple R&T streams in parallel.
• Soft Skills: Hands-on, pragmatic mindset with a curiosity for research and the discipline to push ideas toward industrialization and standardization.
• Languages: Fluent in English (C1/C2); German is a nice to have for on-site collaboration.

WHAT WE OFFER:
• Freedom to lead: Take responsibility and make impactful technical decisions in a flat, agile organization.
• Grow in aerospace: Work on cutting-edge composite technologies for world-class aerospace partners.
• Fuel your focus: Enjoy daily team lunches with freshly prepared meals and premium coffee.
• Choose your perk: Germany Ticket, Egym Wellpass, or Give Card — your choice, your benefit.
• Recharge fully: Enjoy 30 days of paid vacation to rest, recharge, and refuel for your next mission.
• Gear up for take-off:Receive premium Blackwave team apparel and join a crew that values collaboration and excellence.
• Aim higher: Thrive in a growing company with real opportunities for personal and professional development - all while enjoying Alpine views from our rooftop terrace.

Please send your CV in English and get ready for takeoff!