Lead Flight Test Engineer

Lead Flight Test Engineer at Reach Aviation, Inc. in Priest River, Idaho, United States Job Description Key Responsibilities Develop detailed flight test plans, test cards, procedures, and test matrices to support Part 23 certification and development testing activities. Direct day-to-day flight test operations in the role of Test Conductor or Flight Test Engineer, ensuring safe, disciplined, and efficient test execution. Coordinate closely with test pilots, maintenance personnel, and safety personnel to ensure aircraft readiness, configuration control, and operational safety. Develop and maintain flight test schedules aligned with program priorities and certification milestones. Conduct pre-flight risk assessments and ensure comprehensive safety briefings are performed prior to all flight operations. Define, implement, and oversee flight test instrumentation requirements, including specification and integration of sensors, strain gauges, pressure transducers, thermocouples, control position sensors, and related systems. Coordinate installation, configuration, and validation of data acquisition systems (DAQ), ensuring proper signal conditioning, sampling rates, and synchronization between avionics, aircraft systems, and external recording systems. Validate sensor calibration and data integrity prior to flight and troubleshoot instrumentation discrepancies during test operations. Reduce and analyze flight and ground test data to evaluate aircraft performance, stability and control characteristics, systems functionality, and compliance with applicable regulations. Develop data processing tools, scripts, and analysis methods as needed to improve efficiency and repeatability of data reduction. Generate formal flight test reports, compliance documentation, and technical substantiation packages suitable for FAA and DER review. Provide clear, technically sound conclusions and recommendations to engineering leadership based on test results. Support development and maintenance of compliance matrices and certification substantiation documentation. Collaborate with systems, structures, avionics, propulsion, and manufacturing teams to define test objectives, validate design changes, and resolve discrepancies. Lead or participate in Safety Review Boards and Test Readiness Reviews to ensure program risks are understood and mitigated. Provide engineering feedback to improve aircraft handling qualities, systems integration, structural performance, and overall operational safety. Contribute to the continuous improvement of flight test processes, safety procedures, and data analysis methodologies.

Job Posting:

2537765

Posted On:

May 06, 2026

Updated On:

May 06, 2026