Systems Engineer - Mission Performance

We're building safety-enhancing technology for aviation that will save lives. Automated aviation systems will enable a future where air transportation is safer, more convenient and fundamentally transformative to the way goods — and eventually people — move around the planet. We are a team of mission-driven engineers with experience across aerospace, robotics and self-driving cars working to make this future a reality.

As a Mission Performance Analyst at Reliable Robotics, you will be a part of the System Development team, which architects the future of autonomous flight. This role bridges first-principles physics and the deterministic constraints required to keep self-flying aircraft safe under any conditions. You will define the boundaries of what our aircraft can achieve, ensuring our automated systems operate with precision in normal, extreme, and degraded conditions.

As part of an experienced multi-disciplinary team, you will translate complex aerodynamics and fluid dynamics into quantified performance baselines that drive automation requirements and become the safety standards that define our success. You will collaborate with members from other groups within Reliable Robotics to develop the new and novel systems necessary for uncrewed aircraft operations.

Responsibilities

• In your role as a Mission Performance Analyst you will contribute to the development of prototypes and certifiable, safety-critical flight systems in a dynamic, high-growth environment

• Establish safe, quantified operational thresholds by leveraging existing simulations (e.g., from GNC); where gaps exist, build basic first-principles models independently or articulate the analytical input needed from other teams

• Partner with Autopilot and GNC teams to analyze flight control limits and ensure robust, resilient performance during mode transitions and edge-case scenarios

• Determine the environmental thresholds (crosswinds, icing, link latencies) that dictate how our systems navigate behavioral state transitions

• Define representative, high-stakes mission scenarios that demonstrate physical system resilience and safe automated responses under compounding failure conditions

• Provide the quantitative physical foundations that enable safety engineering teams to conduct rigorous hazard assessments

• Ingest and analyze real-world flight databases and telemetry logs using Python, MATLAB, or SQL to extract insights into operating behaviors and establish flight performance baselines

• Quantify procedural thresholds for Flight Manual Supplements, accounting for atmosphere, terrain, and payload variability

Basic Success Criteria

• Master’s degree in Science or Engineering (or a Bachelor’s degree with at least 10 years of experience) in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Applied Mathematics, or a related technical discipline

• Broad experience from 5+ years in aircraft performance analysis, flight sciences, flight dynamics, or aerospace systems engineering

• Proficiency in processing and analyzing large, noisy flight datasets or raw telemetry using programming tools such as Python, MATLAB, or SQL

Preferred Criteria

• Creative problem solver who can apply first-principles physical and aerodynamic analyses to bridge gaps in incomplete flight datasets and establish design safety margins in high-uncertainty environments

• First-hand experience operating Part 23 or Part 25 aircraft, with an FAA-certificated ASEL or AMEL private, commercial, or Airline Transport Pilot certificate; alternatively, experience remotely piloting large military uncrewed aircraft

• Familiarity with aerospace development standards (e.g., ARP4754B, ARP4761) and airworthiness regulations (14 CFR Parts 23 and 25, especially performance criteria), and experience supporting systems safety engineering activities

• Experience supporting auto-flight, autopilot, GNC, or envelope protection functions, including analyzing automated software/hardware interfaces and physical system constraints

This role is critical to us at Reliable Robotics, because it converts complex, first-principles physical and environmental aircraft limits into the precise, quantitative requirements that keep our self-flying aircraft safe under any conditions.

This role can be remote, or located at our headquarters in Mountain View, CA, Seattle, WA or San Diego, CA.

Must be willing to travel up to 10% of the time.

This position requires access to information that is subject to U.S. export controls. An offer of employment will be contingent upon the applicant’s capacity to perform in compliance with U.S. export control laws.

All applicants are asked to provide documentation that legally establishes status as a U.S. person or non-U.S. person (and nationalities in the case of a non-U.S. person). Where the applicant is not a U.S. person, meaning not a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful permanent resident, (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or not otherwise permitted to access the export-controlled technology without U.S. government authorization, the Company reserves the right not to apply for an export license for such applicants whose access to export-controlled technology or software source code requires authorization and may decline to proceed with the application process and any offer of employment on that basis.

At Reliable Robotics, our goal is to be a diverse and inclusive workforce. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, creed, ancestry, sex, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability or medical conditions, national origin, military or veteran status, genetic information, marital status, or any other basis covered by applicable law. All employment and promotion is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.

If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to work@reliable.co