Aviation Regulatory and Certification Engineer
$140,000–$168,000 year
On-siteMountain View Santa Clara County, California, United States
Job Summary
Own and drive the technical substantiation strategy for new design and modification approvals, ensuring the certification package is defensible, complete, and traceable to applicable requirements. Build and maintain compliance matrices, means-of-compliance documentation, and certification plans for structures, propulsion, flight controls, electrical systems, and software. Review engineering designs and proposed modifications for certification impact; identify when a change is major vs. minor, and what substantiation is required. Interface with FAA representatives on certification basis discussions, compliance findings, and issue papers. Partner with flight test, systems engineering, and manufacturing to ensure design intent is preserved through production and that conformity is demonstrable. Develop risk assessments and safety analysis using frameworks like the Specific Operational Risk Assessment (SORA) and hazard tracking matrices. Prepare and submit regulatory filings needed for new operational approvals (e.g., BVLOS waivers, Part 135 additions, new operating locations). Track regulatory developments and rulemaking (FAA and international) and assess their impact on Matternet's aircraft, operations, and roadmap. Maintain and update controlled regulatory documentation (e.g., flight manuals, maintenance manuals, statements of compliance) in line with configuration/change control processes. Represent Matternet in engagement with regulators, industry standards bodies, and certification consultants as needed.
Required Qualifications
- 7+ years with aviation certification and regulatory work
- ideally with hands-on experience preparing or supporting FAA design/modification approvals (STCs, TC amendments, or equivalent)
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- ability to produce clear, well-organized regulatory documentation
- Deep working knowledge of Part 21 certification processes
- knowledge of compliance documentation
- knowledge of how designs are substantiated to an approved certification basis
- Working knowledge of the consensus standards bodies most relevant to drone certification
- ability to map them into a compliance strategy
- ASTM F38 (UAS) standard family
- RTCA standards applied to UAS
- Familiarity with how the FAA accepts or references these consensus standards as means of compliance (MOC)
- Comfortable working cross-functionally with Engineering, Flight Test, and Safety to gather technical information needed for submissions
- Ability to manage multiple regulatory workstreams and deadlines in a fast-paced, startup/scale-up environment
Desired Qualifications
- Prior or current DER designation (any discipline — structures, systems, flight test, etc.), even if not required for this role
- Direct experience with the 49 U.S.C. § 44807 exemption process for operating unmanned aircraft not eligible for airworthiness certification under Part 135
- familiarity with how that pathway interacts with a Type Certificate strategy
- Background in UAS, eVTOL, or other novel aircraft categories where certification bases were built from scratch or adapted from existing rules
- Experience with FAA BVLOS rulemaking (Part 108) or other emerging UAS regulatory frameworks
- Familiarity with SORA or UK CAA Operational Authorisation processes
- Proficiency with Jira and Confluence for managing certification plans, compliance matrices, and traceability across engineering and regulatory workstreams
- Proficiency with Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive) for day-to-day documentation and cross-functional collaboration
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