Senior Airworthiness & Certification Engineer

About You:
 
You are a hands-on airworthiness & certification engineer who owns certification work directly. You lead compliance activities for defined certification workstreams, resolve complex compliance challenges, interface confidently with regulatory authorities (military and civil), and mentor engineers. You communicate effectively with regulatory authorities on assigned technical topics.

Merlin builds autonomous aviation systems for civil and defense customers. The Airworthiness & Certification organization needs an experienced certification engineer who can lead complex technical areas through the military airworthiness and civil certification process. You will lead certification documentation and compliance activities for a defined technical area, interface directly with regulatory authorities, and mentor junior and mid-level certification engineers within the Airworthiness & Certification and Engineering organizations. If you want ownership over meaningful technical certification work with room to broaden across both military and civil domains, this is the role for you.

Responsibilities:

- Execute the certification strategy and technical approach for a major program or product line.

- Contribute to planning, developing, and coordinating important engineering projects.

- Lead certification documentation and compliance activities for complex technical areas (structures, systems, avionics, or flight controls).

- Develop and apply cross-functional competency in military and industry airworthiness standards — MIL-SPECs, MIL-STDs, DEF STANs, JSSG-2001, and MIL-HDBK-516 — and guide engineering teams in developing compliant designs.

- Author and manage Issue Papers (IPs), Certification Review Items (CRIs), and Military Certification Review Items (MCRIs), and drive them to closure.

- Interface directly with regulatory representatives, airworthiness authorities and sponsoring offices (e.g., USAF, U.S. Army Aviation, NAVAIR, FAA, EASA) on assigned certification topics.

- Drive certification program schedules, identifying compliance risks and implementing mitigation strategies to ensure timely approvals.

- Support civil certification programs and activities as needed, applying 14 CFR Part 21/23/25 and applicable advisory circulars alongside civil certification authorities.

- Manage regulatory audits, conformity inspections, and test witnessing activities.

- Contribute to standardizing and scaling Merlin's airworthiness and certification processes and provide technical assistance to certification engineers across departments.

- Manage Type Inspection Authorization (TIA) prerequisites, draft TIAs, and secure approvals across programs.

- Manage the designee program including appointment and oversight; maintain an internal registry of available designee resources.

Qualifications:

- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.

- 6-9 years of aerospace certification experience, including direct interface with airworthiness or certification authorities.

- Proven ability to work both independently and embedded within cross-functional engineering teams.

- Direct, hands-on experience taking military airworthiness or civil certification programs from certification basis development through closure.

- Strong written and verbal communication skills and project management capability.

- Working knowledge of 14 CFR Part 21, 23, 25, and applicable advisory circulars, sufficient to support civil certification activities.

- Demonstrated ability to interface with military airworthiness authorities (e.g., USAF, U.S. Army Aviation, NAVAIR, MAA) and to conduct meetings with regulatory agencies.

- U.S. citizenship, and an active Secret clearance or a clear path to one (as required by program assignment).

- Working knowledge of military airworthiness standards (MIL-SPECs, MIL-STDs, DEF STANs) sufficient to lead an existing program independently.

Nice to Haves:

- Deep civil certification/validation experience with FAA (Part 23/25) and/or EASA (CS-23/25) programs.

- Knowledge of systems engineering principles — requirements decomposition, V&V planning, and configuration management.

- Working familiarity in software and hardware assurance standards (DO-178C, DO-254, MIL-STD-882).

- Working knowledge of safety assessment methodologies: FHA, FMEA/FMECA, FTA, and common cause analysis.

- Working knowledge of emerging aerospace technologies such as electric propulsion, UAVs, or advanced air mobility is highly desirable.

- Working knowledge of FAA military certification processes and interaction with FAA Military Certification Branch (MCB, formerly Military Certification Office (MCO)).

Merlin Labs offers an innovative, entrepreneurial, and team-focused startup environment. We also offer a top-notch benefits package (health, dental, life, flexible paid time off, and 401k with match) and work/life integration. Being part of the Merlin team allows you to become part of a small team that supports professional development while working together to achieve our mission.
 
Merlin Labs is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, military service or obligation or disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. All job offers are contingent upon the candidate passing background and reference checks.
 
At this time, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship or consider candidates who require visa transfers. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for visa sponsorship now or in the future. 
 
In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.
 
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: [email protected]
 
Merlin Labs does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from candidates.