Simulation & Modeling Applied Scientist, Prime Air Flight Sciences High Fidelity Methods

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How do you get items to customers quickly, cost-effectively, and—most importantly—safely, in less than an hour? And how do you do it in a way that can scale? Our teams of hundreds of scientists, engineers, aerospace professionals, and futurists have been working hard to do just that! We are delivering to customers, and are excited for what’s to come. Check out more information about Prime Air on the About Amazon blog (https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/transportation/amazon-prime-air-delivery-drone-reveal-photos).

If you are seeking an iterative environment where you can drive innovation, apply state-of-the-art technologies to solve real world delivery challenges, and provide benefits to customers, Prime Air is the place for you.

Come work on the Amazon Prime Air Team!

Prime Air's Flight Sciences High-Fidelity Methods (HFM) team is seeking an outstanding Applied Scientist to develop and verify drone systems models and flight physics models. These models form the backbone of every flight simulation performed within Prime Air, directly informing aircraft design, system verification, certification, and business decisions.

The HFM team's work enables prediction of critical vehicle performance metrics—including range, maneuverability, tracking error, and aircraft stability—and connects vehicle design and operational decisions to business outcomes such as customer reachability. Our models are also a crucial input to the design of flight control algorithms and software verification. Because the accuracy and reliability of these models underpin so many facets of Prime Air's mission, the scientist in this role will have broad, high-visibility impact on the program's success.

Key job responsibilities

The Applied Scientist in this role will own the end-to-end lifecycle of simulation models—from development and deployment through verification and ongoing maintenance. This begins with gathering downstream customer needs, selecting the most suitable modeling approach and level of fidelity, and coordinating the generation of input data. It extends through model training, development and maintenance of software interfaces, and verification of model accuracy.

A core aspect of this role is determining the right modeling approach for a given physical phenomenon. The scientist will need a working understanding of the physics and systems being modeled, including vehicle aerodynamics, propeller performance, multibody dynamics, atmospheric physics, electric powertrain components, and guidance and navigation system (GNS) sensors. They will design experiments to generate the data needed to build and verify models, and apply uncertainty quantification and statistical analyses to validate model fidelity.

Basic Qualifications

• PhD, or Master's degree and 4+ years of science, technology, engineering or related field experience
• Experience programming in Java, C++, Python or related language
• Experience with flight vehicle simulation development, aircraft system identification or simulation verification & validation (V&V)
• Solid understanding of software design principles

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with flight test planning, instrumentation and data reduction techniques
• Experience with high-fidelity aerodynamics prediction methods including wind tunnel testing, and computation fluid dynamics (CFD)
• Knowledgeable about fixed-wing and/or rotorcraft flight physics
• Experience with uncertainty quantification in the context of computational models

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The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.

USA, WA, Seattle - 142,800.00 - 193,200.00 USD annually