ompany: AeroDef Nexus

Location:
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India Employment Type: Contract initially, with potential for full time

Experience:
15+ years Work Mode: On-site / significant presence in Bengaluru Reports To: Founder & CEO About AeroDef Nexus AeroDef Nexus is building a world-class, homegrown Indian aerospace OEM. Our first aircraft programme is ARX-1 — a Modular Autonomous Cargo Aircraft designed for logistics, defence, humanitarian and special-mission applications. ARX-1 is transitioning from aircraft architecture and intellectual property into engineering, hardware development and testing. We are looking for an experienced aircraft engineer to take technical ownership of the programme and help turn ARX-1 from a concept into a buildable, testable aircraft. The Opportunity We are looking for a Chief Engineer / Aircraft Development Lead who can own the technical baseline of ARX-1 across the aircraft development lifecycle. This is an aircraft-level technical leadership role, not a functional engineering position. You will be responsible for integrating aerodynamics, structures, propulsion, flight controls, avionics, autonomy, aircraft systems, manufacturing and certification into one coherent aircraft. You will work directly with the Founder & CEO and coordinate internal engineers, external specialists, aerospace organisations, suppliers and technology partners. The right candidate should be an aircraft builder — someone who can translate a mission into requirements, make aircraft-level engineering trade-offs, lead multidisciplinary teams, and drive the programme from design through hardware and testing.

Key Responsibilities
Aircraft Development & Systems Engineering
• Own the ARX-1 aircraft-level technical baseline and configuration.
• Translate customer and mission requirements into aircraft requirements and engineering specifications.
• Lead aircraft-level trade studies and design decisions.
• Coordinate aerodynamics, structures, propulsion, flight controls, avionics, autonomy and aircraft systems.
• Establish and maintain aircraft weight, balance, performance and systems budgets.
• Lead systems architecture, requirements allocation, interface definition and configuration management.
• Establish technical design-review processes and engineering decision records.
• Drive multidisciplinary engineering integration and resolve aircraft-level technical conflicts. Certification & Airworthiness
• Develop the aircraft certification and airworthiness strategy.
• Identify applicable regulatory, certification and compliance requirements.
• Establish the verification, validation and qualification approach.
• Coordinate with certification, regulatory and airworthiness organisations.
• Ensure certification considerations are incorporated into the aircraft architecture from the beginning. Prototype,



Integration & Testing
• Define prototype architecture and development strategy.
• Establish ground-test, integration-test and flight-test strategies.
• Lead aircraft-level verification and validation.
• Coordinate engineering, manufacturing and test teams through prototype development.
• Support development of test articles, prototypes and flight-test vehicles.
• Drive technical closure of issues identified during testing. Engineering Organisation
• Define the engineering capabilities required to develop ARX-1.
• Build and lead the initial aircraft engineering team.
• Identify internal, external and partner engineering capabilities.
• Establish engineering processes appropriate for a new aircraft programme.
• Mentor and develop engineers across multiple disciplines. Programme Leadership
• Own the technical roadmap, milestones and engineering risks.
• Develop and maintain the aircraft development schedule.
• Define engineering resource and capital requirements.
• Work with the Founder & CEO on customers, strategic partners, investors and technology partners.
• Translate technical requirements into programme budgets and development plans.
• Provide technical leadership during customer, investor and partner discussions. First 90-Day Deliverables The initial mandate will focus on establishing a credible technical foundation for ARX-1. Expected deliverables include:
• Aircraft Requirements Document (ARD)
• Aircraft configuration and preliminary design baseline
• Mission and performance requirements
• Aircraft sizing and performance assessment
• Mass and balance budget
• Aerodynamic and propulsion sizing
• Structural architecture and materials strategy
• Avionics, flight-control and autonomy architecture
• Aircraft systems architecture
• Preliminary certification and airworthiness roadmap
• Verification and validation strategy
• Prototype and flight-test strategy
• Engineering organisation and hiring plan
• Programme risk register
• 24-month aircraft development roadmap
• Engineering development budget and capital requirements The immediate objective is to take ARX-1 from: Concept → Technically credible aircraft baseline → Engineering development programme Required Experience
• 15+ years of experience in aircraft development, aerospace engineering or a closely related field.




• Significant experience taking an aircraft or major aerospace system through multiple stages of requirements, design, integration, hardware development and testing.
• Strong aircraft-level systems engineering and integration experience.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Experience with aircraft configuration, performance, structures and systems integration.
• Experience with certification, airworthiness or regulatory compliance.
• Experience with prototype development, integration and testing.
• Demonstrated ability to make aircraft-level engineering decisions and trade-offs.
• Strong technical communication and leadership skills. Preferred Experience Experience in one or more of the following would be highly valuable:
• Utility or transport aircraft
• UAV / autonomous aircraft
• Turboprop aircraft
• STOL aircraft
• Composite primary structures
• Autonomous flight systems
• Flight controls
• Aircraft avionics
• Military or civil aircraft certification
• Flight testing
• Aircraft productionisation / industrialisation
• Mission systems
• Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE)
• Requirements management and configuration management Experience with HAL, NAL, ADA, DRDO, CEMILAC, DGCA or equivalent aerospace organisations would be valuable. What We Are Looking For We are not looking for someone who has only managed a single engineering function. We are looking for someone who can look at an aircraft as an integrated system and ask: Does the mission close? Does the weight close? Does the performance close? Does the propulsion close? Can we manufacture it? Can we test it? Can we certify it? What do we need to do next? You should be comfortable operating in an entrepreneurial environment where not every answer exists yet, and where engineering decisions must be made with incomplete information and limited resources. Strong systems thinking, engineering judgement, ownership and execution are essential. Engagement The initial engagement will be 3–6 months, with the objective of establishing the ARX-1 engineering baseline and development programme. For the right candidate, this can transition into a long-term Chief Engineer / Technical Co-founder role with meaningful long-term equity participation. The role requires significant on-site presence in Bengaluru. Why Join AeroDef Nexus? This is an opportunity to help build a current aircraft from the ground up in India. You will not be joining an established aircraft programme to own one subsystem. You will help define the aircraft, establish the engineering organisation, build the development programme and ultimately take the aircraft through hardware development and flight testing. If you have spent your career wanting to build an aircraft rather than simply work on one, we want to hear from you.

📌 Chief Engineer (India)
🏢 AeroDef Nexus Group
📍 India