--- title: 'Senior Team Lead, Airframe & Aerostructures at Harmattan AI' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-team-lead-airframe-aerostructures-harmattan-ai-rabat-vksk2f6bfm7z' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-14' --- # Senior Team Lead, Airframe & Aerostructures at Harmattan AI - **Company:** [Harmattan AI](https://feeny.ai/companies/harmattan-ai) - **Location:** Rabat, Morocco - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-08-25 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-14 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/harmattan-ai/0effc8f4-47cb-4f7a-b944-a0a5c2f007b0 ## Job description ## About Us Harmattan AI is a next-generation defense prime building autonomous and scalable defense systems. Following the close of a $200M Series B, valuing the company at $1.4 billion, we are expanding our teams and capabilities to deliver mission-critical systems to allied forces. Our work is guided by clear values: building technologies with real-world impact, pursuing excellence in everything we do, setting ambitious goals, and taking on the hardest technical challenges. We operate in a demanding environment where rigor, ownership, and execution are expected. Location: Rabat, Morocco — on site. Contract: Permanent, full time ## About the Role As Senior Team Lead, Airframe & Aerostructures, you will own the structural design of a new composite airframe — from concept to production. You will start embedded with our core Airframe engineering team to take design ownership, then build and lead a dedicated composite engineering team on site. You own the roadmap, the trade-offs and the transition into series manufacturing. ## Responsibilities - Airframe & Aerostructures Team: Build, lead and grow a composite engineering team on site — recruitment, onboarding, ramp-up, team structure and technical growth path. - Composite Structural Design: Drive the structural design of composite airframe structures from concept through production, including laminates, joints, inserts and tooling strategy. - Prototyping & Industrialisation: Drive fast in-house composite prototyping and carry designs into series manufacturing processes. - Trade-Off & Design Analysis: Own system-level trade-offs across mass budget, thermal performance and manufacturing cost. - Roadmap Ownership: Define and own the airframe roadmap — scope, milestones, priorities and trade-offs from prototype to production handover. - Technical Coordination: Lead cross-functional design with the core Airframe team, Simulation/FEA, Industrialisation, propulsion, avionics and ground segment teams. - Suppliers: Manage manufacturing partners and suppliers so design intent survives production. - System Reviews: Set technical standards, review designs and mentor engineers as the team scales. Candidate Requirements - 5+ years in mechanical or aerospace structural engineering within defense, aerospace or robotics, including experience leading a team, module or significant project. - MSc in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering, or a closely related field. A track record of building will outweigh the degree. - At least one product taken from concept to production, with strong composite structural design expertise and hands-on carbon fabrication and prototyping experience. - Owner and generalist. You take the whole airframe — design, prototyping and industrialisation — rather than a slice of it. - Entrepreneurial, hands-on and comfortable a long way from headquarters. You design from first principles, take local decisions and defend them, and stay rigorous on anything touching the safety case. We look forward to hearing how you can help shape the future of autonomous defense systems at Harmattan AI. ## About Harmattan AI ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Harmattan AI builds autonomous defense systems—including strike and surveillance drones—using AI-driven autonomy and real-time intelligence for allied forces. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series B, unicorn status) - **Headquarters**: Paris, France - **Founded**: 2024 - **Founders**: Mouad M’Ghari (CEO & Co‑founder) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Defense & autonomous systems - **Target customers**: B2G – NATO member states, ministries of defence (UK, France, and others) - **Mission**: Deliver scalable, sovereign AI capabilities to allied forces by building mission‑ready autonomous systems that respond in real time, adapt under pressure, and deliver an edge in contested environments. [harmattan.ai](https://harmattan.ai/) ## Products & Services - **Platform Autonomy**: AI‑driven autonomy layer for drones, enabling real‑time decision‑making and adaptation. - **Mission Orchestration**: Software for coordinating multiple autonomous assets (e.g., collaborative air combat). - **Precision Strike**: Attritable strike drones with embedded AI for target engagement. - **VSHORAD (Very Short‑Range Air Defence)**: Counter‑drone interception systems. - **Persistent ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance)**: Autonomous surveillance platforms for continuous battlefield awareness. - **Electronic Warfare Platforms**: Systems for electronic attack and protection. [harmattan.ai](https://harmattan.ai/) ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: $1.4 billion (as of January 2026, after Series B). [tech.eu](https://tech.eu/2026/01/12/french-startup-harmattan-ai-hits-unicorn-status-as-it-strikes-deal-with-french-aerospace-group/) - **Key Metric**: Total funding ~$240 million ($200 M Series B led by Dassault Aviation + over $40 M prior). [tech.eu](https://tech.eu/2026/01/12/french-startup-harmattan-ai-hits-unicorn-status-as-it-strikes-deal-with-french-aerospace-group/) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Dassault Aviation (lead investor & strategic partner), multiple NATO allies as customers. - **Growth Signals**: - Achieved unicorn status within two years of founding. - Awarded several “programs of record” by UK and French Ministries of Defence. [tech.eu](https://tech.eu/2026/01/12/french-startup-harmattan-ai-hits-unicorn-status-as-it-strikes-deal-with-french-aerospace-group/) - Scaling industrial manufacturing of drone interception and electronic warfare platforms. - Headcount grew to 131 employees (Built In estimate). [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/harmattan-ai) ## Competitive Advantages - **Two‑layer autonomy model**: Combines platform‑level AI with mission‑orchestration software for coordinated, scalable autonomous forces. - **Sovereign AI**: Focus on delivering non‑dependent capabilities to allied nations, differentiating from US‑centric primes. - **Attritable systems**: Cost‑effective, expendable drones that enable mass deployment without prohibitive losses. - **Speed to relevance**: Claims rapid iteration and deployment cycles, with conflict‑ready production. [harmattan.ai](https://harmattan.ai/) ## Strategic Focus - Expand product offering into new operational domains (e.g., collaborative air combat with Dassault Aviation). - Scale industrial manufacturing of drone interception, electronic warfare, and ISR platforms. - Deepen integration of embedded AI into next‑generation air combat systems (future combat air systems). [tech.eu](https://tech.eu/2026/01/12/french-startup-harmattan-ai-hits-unicorn-status-as-it-strikes-deal-with-french-aerospace-group/) ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: “Elite builders” who “thrive on complexity, move with urgency, and own their work end to end.” Emphasis on purpose, technical excellence, and real‑world impact. [harmattan.ai](https://harmattan.ai/careers/) - **Values**: Tackle the hardest problems, build what matters, move at the speed of relevance, and aim to redefine frontiers. [harmattan.ai](https://harmattan.ai/careers/) - **Work policy**: Hybrid model with a mix of remote and on‑site; many roles are in‑office at locations in Paris, Lausanne, London, Arlington (TX), Wissous, Poland, UAE, and Morocco. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/harmattan-ai) - **Engineering culture**: Hands‑on development of mission‑critical autonomous systems; strong R&D focus across AI, computer vision, RF hardware, propulsion, and mission planning. - **Perks**: Not explicitly listed, but the company highlights the opportunity to protect front‑line personnel and shape the future of autonomous defence. ## Sources 1. [harmattan.ai](https://harmattan.ai/) 2. [harmattan.ai/careers](https://harmattan.ai/careers/) 3. [harmattan.ai/open-roles](https://harmattan.ai/open-roles) 4. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/harmattan-ai) 5. [tech.eu](https://tech.eu/2026/01/12/french-startup-harmattan-ai-hits-unicorn-status-as-it-strikes-deal-with-french-aerospace-group/) ## Other roles at Harmattan AI - [Program Manager Middle East](https://feeny.ai/job/program-manager-middle-east-harmattan-ai-united-arab-emirates-0z7k98ev5h65) — United Arab Emirates - [VP Production Morocco](https://feeny.ai/job/vp-production-morocco-harmattan-ai-rabat-kfjmdrb7ygma) — Rabat, Morocco - [Signal Processing Engineer (RF Processing & Analytics)](https://feeny.ai/job/signal-processing-engineer-rf-processing-analytics-harmattan-ai-paris-hjn8mgsqgzcf) — Paris, France - [Module Lead, Guidance & Control](https://feeny.ai/job/module-lead-guidance-control-harmattan-ai-zurich-4xhs9vv4betd) — Zurich, Switzerland - [Module Lead, Guidance & Control](https://feeny.ai/job/module-lead-guidance-control-harmattan-ai-paris-ne6eaja28d11) — Paris, France - [Module Lead, Guidance & Control](https://feeny.ai/job/module-lead-guidance-control-harmattan-ai-lausanne-5z729t1f5em7) — Lausanne, Switzerland - [Forward Deployed Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-software-engineer-harmattan-ai-united-arab-emirates-h1ph5ed6wera) — United Arab Emirates - [Embedded Electrical Engineer - SoM](https://feeny.ai/job/embedded-electrical-engineer-som-harmattan-ai-zurich-nfmnmqmj7qkw) — Zurich, Switzerland - [Embedded Electrical Engineer - SoM](https://feeny.ai/job/embedded-electrical-engineer-som-harmattan-ai-lausanne-25bs7fgkpqjz) — Lausanne, Switzerland - [Product Operations Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/product-operations-intern-harmattan-ai-paris-598y5hqzq0v7) — Paris, France