Aerodynamicist at Aptera Motors in Carlsbad, CA

About the role

Aptera has already done the hard part: designing one of the most aerodynamically efficient vehicles ever built for public roads. Your job is to make sure it stays that way — through production, iteration, and every engineering decision that touches airflow.

This is a highly collaborative, detail-oriented role. You will be the aerodynamics conscience of the vehicle program — partnering daily with founders, the SVP of Engineering, and crossfunctional team leads to ensure that the low-drag, high-efficiency ethos is preserved at every stage of design and build.

What you'll do

•  Own aerodynamic integrity of the production vehicle. Review and approve (or flag) panel gaps, fit tolerances, surface changes, and design modifications before they ship because at Cd < 0.13, every millimeter matters.
• Support engineering leads across body, chassis, thermal, and powertrain teams with aerodynamic trade-off analysis: drag vs. cooling, frontal area vs. cabin space, downforce vs. efficiency.
• Leverage CFD intelligently — knowing when simulation is sufficient, when a wind tunnel is warranted, and when Tufts tape and a GoPro on a back road will tell you everything you need. Then go do it yourself.
• Drive continuous improvement — identify opportunities to reduce drag further or improve stability with each product revision, keeping Aptera ahead of its own benchmarks.
• Get your hands dirty — instrument the vehicle for aerodynamic measurement, apply clay modifications to test surface changes, run tuft visualization, and drive the car yourself to collect data when needed. This is not a desk job.
• Ensure stability compliance — confirm that all configurations meet managementdefined drag and stability requirements before sign-off.

Qualifications

• Proven you can think rigorously about aerodynamics in a resource-constrained, highstakes environment.
• Competition background strongly preferred — SCCA road racing, SAE Supermileage, Formula SAE, or a university solar car team (e.g., American Solar Challenge, World Solar Challenge). If you’ve stayed up until 2am arguing about a spoiler lip angle, you’re an ideal candidate.
• Hands-on CFD experience — STAR-CCM+, ANSYS Fluent, OpenFOAM, or similar.
• Skilled to set up a simulation, but more importantly, you know when not to trust it.
• Correlation with the real world – You know what to do when simulated results don’t match wind tunnel results, and those don’t match the track data.
• Systems thinking — you can hold Cd, weight, battery range, thermal management, and manufacturing cost in your head at once and communicate the trade-offs clearly to non-aero engineers.
• Execution focus — the vehicle exists. Your most important job isn’t reimagining it; it’s protecting what makes it extraordinary while helping it get better.

Preferred Qualifications

• Competitive racing or solar vehicle program experience.
• Familiarity with automotive surface modeling (CATIA, NX, SolidWorks).
• Experience with pressure tap instrumentation, wake surveys, or flow visualization techniques.
• Wind tunnel experience - academic or commercial - including instrumentation setup and data reduction.
• Comfort with clay modeling and surface modification for rapid shape iteration.
• Valid driver’s license and genuine comfort behind the wheel of a test vehicle.

Team Structure 

• Individual contributor; collaborate with other teams and individuals, as necessary

Required Experience

• Practical aerodynamic analysis experience: CFD, physical testing, or both.
• Strong communicator — you can explain drag penalties to others without being condescending.

Educational Requirements

• B.S. in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Automotive Engineering (or equivalent demonstrated experience)

Salary + Benefits 

• Market competitive compensation package
• Stock option grants 
• Fully funded benefits package for employee + dependents
• Generous Flexible Time Away policy