Senior Stress & Thermomechanical FEA Engineer – Propulsion Battery System (all genders)

About This Opportunity

Our talent team is representing a confidential aerospace engineering organization developing next-generation electric aircraft systems. We are seeking a Senior Stress & Thermomechanical FEA Engineer to join their propulsion battery system team in Munich.

In this role, you will lead the structural, stress, and thermomechanical finite element analysis of propulsion battery packs, power distribution units, and internal hardware for certified electric aircraft. You will own computational modeling that predicts component behavior under nominal and emergency conditions—including thermal runaway events, DO-160 environmental qualification, flight loads, and service life durability. Your analysis will provide critical engineering evidence for structural robustness, thermal safety, and certification compliance.

Responsibilities

• Lead structural, stress, and thermomechanical FEA of propulsion battery packs, PDUs, and components under nominal operation, emergency conditions (thermal runaway), DO-160 environmental qualification, and flight/inertial loads
• Perform room-temperature and elevated-temperature analysis of composites (including sandwich structures), metals, adhesives, and mechanical fasteners with temperature-dependent material behavior
• Build and correlate nonlinear models covering material, geometric, and contact nonlinearity—cohesive-zone and VCCT delamination, composite progressive failure, metal plasticity, crushable foam, large-deformation/post-buckling, and frictional contact with bolt pretension and bearing behavior
• Model hyper-elastic and viscoelastic behavior of potting compounds, gap fillers, foams, gaskets, seals, and thermal interface materials to predict contact pressure and interface integrity
• Perform durability and life analysis including vibration-induced high-cycle fatigue (DO-160 random and sine sweep), low-cycle fatigue from thermal cycling, and fatigue of bonded joints, fasteners, busbars, and interconnects
• Assess creep and stress relaxation of seals, adhesives, polymers, and potting compounds at elevated temperature, including loss of contact pressure
• Analyze thermal runaway as a coupled thermomechanical event—pressure loads, impingement flow, ejecta, heat transfer—collaborating with thermal systems teams on CFD modeling and boundary conditions
• Apply static, fatigue, and creep material property allowables (room and elevated temperature) using established methodologies such as CMH-17 for composites and MMPDS for metallics
• Automate analysis workflows using Python for Abaqus scripting; develop closed-form and lower-order analysis methods in Python or MATLAB for rapid sizing and FEA verification
• Check and release designs against applicable stress and thermomechanical requirements, providing stress sign-off for hardware releases
• Define modeling standards, assumptions, load cases, and acceptance criteria; maintain configuration-controlled analysis models
• Support test planning and post-test correlation of FEA models against coupon, component, and full-scale test data
• Author and release certification documentation, including analysis reports and means-of-compliance evidence for structural, environmental, and thermal runaway requirements

What We're Looking For

Required:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Structural/Computational Mechanics, or related field (PhD beneficial)
• 5+ years of experience in structural/stress and thermomechanical FEA, preferably in aerospace, automotive, battery systems, or high-performance engineering
• Strong command of nonlinear FEA across material, geometric, and contact nonlinearity, with depth in cohesive-zone modeling, composite progressive failure (Hashin/Puck), metal plasticity, hyperelastic/viscoelastic materials, crushable foam, large-deformation/buckling, and frictional contact with fastener bearing analysis
• Experience with room-temperature and elevated-temperature modeling of composites (including sandwich structures), metals, adhesives, and mechanical fasteners
• Experience in fatigue and damage-tolerance analysis (S–N/ε–N methods, cumulative damage, random-vibration/PSD fatigue) and creep/stress-relaxation of adhesives and polymers
• Proficiency with FEA software, ideally Abaqus; experience with Ansys, MSC/NX Nastran, Altair, or COMSOL beneficial
• Proficiency in Python for Abaqus automation and post-processing, and Python or MATLAB for closed-form analysis methods
• Experience applying static, fatigue, and creep material property allowables, including familiarity with CMH-17 and MMPDS methodologies and A-/B-basis statistical allowables
• Strong problem-solving skills, technical curiosity, and attention to detail
• Fluent English language skills

Desirable:

• Experience taking analytical responsibility for hardware, including checking others' work and providing stress sign-off within a configuration-controlled environment
• Experience with explicit dynamics and impact/blast events (burst-disk actuation, vent impingement, ejecta containment)
• Experience implementing user-defined material models and subroutines in Abaqus (UMAT/VUMAT/UMATHT), including Fortran
• Proficiency with 3D CAD, ideally SolidWorks, CATIA, or Siemens NX
• Familiarity with aerospace environmental and structural requirements, particularly DO-160 and CS-23 structural substantiation
• Working knowledge of propulsion battery thermal runaway means of compliance (DO-311A, ANAC–EASA–FAA–TCCA harmonized white paper)
• Familiarity with development assurance and safety processes (ARP4754A/B, ARP4761/4761A, ASTM F3230)
• Experience with battery systems or electric propulsion systems
• German language skills

How We Work With You

Candidates apply through Get A Job.ai. Our recruiting team conducts an initial screening to understand your background and match you with the right opportunity. Once we confirm mutual fit, we submit your profile to our client for consideration. Please do not contact the client organization directly—all communication flows through our team to ensure a professional, coordinated process.

Pay

Pay information will be discussed during the screening process with our recruiting team.

Equal Employment Opportunity: Get A Job.ai is committed to creating an inclusive recruitment process. We encourage applications from all qualified candidates regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or any other protected characteristic.