Principal Systems Engineer - Powertrain (m/f/d)

You do not need to meet 100% of the preferred qualifications to be considered. We encourage anyone who meets the basic qualifications and is interested in the role to apply – we are looking for enthusiastic, dedicated people to join our team, and want the opportunity to talk to you! 

Your role and your team:    

As a Principal Systems Engineer in the Powertrain & Advanced Systems department, you will have ownership over the flight critical aircraft powertrain systems that sit at the intersection of electrical, electronics, mechanical, thermal, software and battery engineering. There are several sub-teams within the larger powertrain engineering group located at our Munich facility, each with a different focus ranging from Electrochemistry, Battery design & Industrialisation, Electromagnetics, Machines, Power Electronics, Turbomachinery and Integrated Modular Avionics. As a Principal Systems Engineer you will be deployed to our Chief Engineering department as a subject matter expert to work on Aircraft level tasks and integration. Your placement and fit within these teams will be considered throughout the interviewing process after factoring technical fit, expertise and your personal preference. You will join an interdisciplinary integrated project team from a diverse range of skillsets, backgrounds and levels of experience responsible for the complete development of our innovative fully electric Powertrain architecture, through design, verification and certification up to the delivery of the Lilium aircraft.  

Responsibilities: 

• Design, develop and test highly reliable powertrain components to meet our aircraft requirements. 
• Engage with cross-functional teams to ensure integration activities are successful through risk based planning activities against the certification plan. 
• Partner, guide and mentor development teams on technical tasks that arise at aircraft level. 
• Steward and steer certification documentation and activities for the certification of the Powertrain system.  

• Drive system trade-off, requirements capture, component selection, analysis, schematic capture, PCB layout, prototyping, hardware bring-up, debugging, documentation, manufacturing and test of complex electronics.   
• Get hands-on and support different teams through prototyping, integration, test and flight test activities. 
• Drive continual improvements to our designs by building physical and digital tools to analyse data collected from in-service, lab, ground and flight test activities.  

Role and Interview process: 

The role is based in Munich, Germany and Lilium supports relocation and visa sponsorship. 

The interview process starts with us reviewing your application, then if there is a fit we will contact you for a first interview to understand a little more about you. Next will be a technical conversation with the hiring manager to assess value for both parties. Next, we will ask you to complete a case study to understand your technical approach and prowess. Finally you will be invited onsite for a tour of Lilium and our facilities, as well as a final round of interviews for culture and for you to present your case study.  

Basic Qualifications: 

• Degree in relevant engineering discipline. 
• Knowledge of aircraft design and propulsion/powertrain principles, CS23/25/27/29. 
• Knowledge of architecture development and sensitivity analysis at aircraft level. 

• Knowledge of aircraft electrical systems, propulsion and energy storage. 
• Knowledge of systems engineering development according to ARP4754A and ARP4761. 
• High level of self-reliance with the ability to work collaboratively, as well as autonomously. 
• Target-oriented, inclusive work style with analytical problem-solving skills. 
• Fluent English language skills. 
   

Preferred Skills & Experience: 

• Master's degree in Electrical, Aerospace, Mechanical, Computer Engineering (or equivalent) 
• 3+ years working within Part 21J design organisation environment 
• 3+ years of professional experience rapidly designing and delivering highly reliable products 
• 3+ years of electronic product experience designing hardware from concept through production; strong emphasis on full life cycle development of new hardware products and not small incremental updates to legacy hardware 

• 3+ years of experience in aircraft power envelope modelling, power quality or architecture development. 
• Experience with motor control, battery management systems or electromagnetic environmental effects. 
• Experience with certification of aircraft systems, especially coordinating with regulatory authorities and producing certification plans, compliance documents, and test plans. 
• Knowledge of industry standards such as MIL-STD-704, DO-160, DO-254, DO-178, D0-297, AMC 20-1, AMC 20-3, MIL-STD-461 and 464  
• Strong understanding of computers and programming languages (python, C) 

• Demonstrated ability to work in a highly cross-functional role 
• Fluent German or any other language