Flight Dynamicist

Leidos is a global industry and technology leader dedicated to delivering smarter and more efficient digital and mission innovations for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with a workforce of 47,000 employees worldwide, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $16.7 billion for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2025. The company specializes in providing comprehensive engineering, scientific, and IT solutions across multiple sectors including defense, space, cyber, and commercial fields. Leidos is renowned for its commitment to sustainability, community engagement, and unwavering dedication to doing the right thing for its customers, employees, and the communities it serves. Its mission, vision, and values are deeply embedded in how it conducts business and fosters innovation.

Leidos is currently seeking a talented Flight Dynamicist to join its Defense Systems Advanced Development Organization. This role entails creating unique solutions for complex problems by contributing to the modeling and simulation development, conceptual design, and vehicle development for a variety of aerospace programs, including missiles, hypersonic vehicles, satellites, and other space vehicles. The Flight Dynamicist will work on both flexible and rigid body simulations, separation and orbit dynamics, trajectory analysis, vehicle sizing, and optimization studies within a multidisciplinary team environment.

The ideal candidate will have experience updating and creating aerospace modeling and simulation tools using MATLAB/Simulink, Python, C++, FORTRAN, or similar programming languages. Additionally, the role requires developing and analyzing 3-degree-of-freedom (3DOF) and 6-degree-of-freedom (6DOF) flight dynamics models to evaluate vehicle performance in terms of stability, controllability, and mission effectiveness across the entire flight envelope. Responsibilities include conducting trajectory design, optimization, and trade studies for various aerospace systems by balancing performance, range, payload, thermal constraints, and operational requirements.

The Flight Dynamicist will also develop low to medium-fidelity simulations and digital engineering models that support concept development, requirements analysis, mission planning, system design, verification, and testing activities. Key tasks involve performing preliminary aerodynamic, propulsion, mass properties, and environmental sensitivity analyses to assess vehicle performance and identify critical design drivers and technical risks. The candidate will conduct comprehensive flight mechanics analyses, encompassing stability and control assessments, separation dynamics, staging events, atmospheric flight, reentry, and orbital mission operations as applicable.

Collaboration is essential in this role, involving working closely with teams specializing in aerodynamics, propulsion, thermal systems, systems engineering, software, and mission analysis. The Flight Dynamicist contributes to translating complex requirements into executable vehicle designs, supporting flight test planning, pre-flight predictions, post-flight data reconstruction, and analysis to validate and improve system performance. The role also supports technical proposals, customer engagements, concept studies, and strategic growth initiatives related to advanced aerospace programs.

This position requires an active Secret security clearance with the ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance as necessary. Candidates should be prepared to work in a fast-paced development environment and demonstrate the ability to support technical proposals and customer interactions effectively.

The estimated pay range for this position is $69,550 to $125,725, reflecting factors such as experience, education, and alignment with market standards. Leidos offers a comprehensive compensation package inclusive of health and wellness programs, income protection, paid leave, retirement benefits, and more. The company fosters a work culture that values innovative thinking and encourages employees to disrupt, provoke, and push boundaries in pursuit of mission success. Leidos is committed to equal employment opportunities for all qualified applicants and maintains a strict policy against discrimination based on any legally protected status.