---
title: 'Staff Engineer, Core Flight Controls at Merlin Labs'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/staff-engineer-core-flight-controls-merlin-labs-boston-a96x3cgbfc9m'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-07'
---

# Staff Engineer, Core Flight Controls at Merlin Labs

- **Company:** Merlin Labs
- **Location:** Boston, MA
- **Compensation:** $200k–$265k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-07-31
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/merlinlabs/d7e42d52-dc3b-4a13-a5d0-ee2b8c7aa599

## Job description

About Merlin: Merlin (NASDAQ: MRLN) is a publicly traded aerospace and defense company building a non-human pilot to deliver full-stack autonomy for any aircraft from takeoff to touchdown. The Merlin Pilot autonomy system powers a growing range of aircraft and mission profiles and has been proven through hundreds of autonomous flights from Merlin's global flight test facilities, including Kerikeri, New Zealand; Quonset Point, Rhode Island; and soon, Bedford, Massachusetts. Headquartered in Boston, Merlin is expanding its organization to accelerate the development and deployment of its autonomy platform, helping customers solve some of aviation's most pressing challenges, from pilot shortages to improving flight safety. Backed by some of the world's leading investors prior to its public listing, Merlin continues to advance the certification and commercialization of autonomous flight across commercial and defense aviation.

About you:You are an experienced flight controls engineer passionate about autonomous flight who wants to contribute to making airplanes fly themselves. You are familiar with fixed wing aircraft and the classical and modern methods used to control them automatically. You know how to use industry standard tools for this work, and you are excited to work on novel applications.

Responsibilities:

- Design and implement flight controls for our aircraft automation system.
- Decompose system requirements into low level flight controls requirements
- Help create and use the simulation tools needed for development and testing including
- Simulink control law modeling, analysis using MATLAB and Python.
- Participate in flight testing for system identification and verification of control law performance on multiple aircraft types.
- Own the flight control system from end-to-end and be responsible for product delivery to programs and customers
- Collaborate across Merlin to develop novel, certifiable systems to solve the toughest problems in aviation and autonomy.

Qualifications:

- BS in Aerospace/Mechanical/Electrical Engineering
- 10+ years of experience developing control systems for fixed wing aircraft, with demonstrated understanding of fixed wing aircraft dynamics, classical and modern control design / analysis
- Experience decomposing systems requirements into high level requirements for both outer loop and inner loop control design
- Experience working in Model Based Development and certification of flight control systems, including proficiency in MATLAB/Simulink or another model-based development toolset
- Experience designing, implementing, and testing software for real-time systems
- Experience with linear model development, linear analysis and frequency domain gain tuning techniques

Nice to Haves:

- MS/PhD in Aerospace Engineering and/or Controls
- Experience developing never-before-flown control systems
- Experience extracting linear state space models from flight test data
- Experience working directly with customers and being a company representative
- Pilot license
- Proficiency in C/C++ or Python

## About Merlin Labs

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Merlin Labs is a U.S.-based developer of takeoff-to-touchdown autonomy software for military and civil aircraft, building the operating system of record for autonomous flight.
- **Entity Type**: Public (Nasdaq: MRLN) – went public via SPAC merger with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp IV in 2026.
- **Headquarters**: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- **Founded**: 2019
- **Founders**: Matthew George (CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Aerospace & Defense, Autonomous Aviation, AI Software
- **Target customers**: Military (U.S. Special Operations Command, Air Force), civil aviation operators, aircraft OEMs
- **Mission**: To provide safe, reliable autonomy that extends the capabilities of existing fleets and unlocks next-generation missions, forging the next 100 years of American aviation.

## Products & Services
- **[Merlin Pilot](https://merlinlabs.com/)**: An aircraft-agnostic, AI-powered software platform for autonomous flight from takeoff to touchdown. Designed to adapt to any plane in operation today and in the future.
- **[Condor](https://merlinlabs.com/)**: A product family for large, multi-crew aircraft, announced in 2026, targeting high-capacity military and cargo platforms.
- **Prime Contract with USSOCOM**: Merlin is partnering with U.S. Special Operations Command to bring autonomy to the C-130J fleet, extending operational range for high-frequency routes.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed as of the latest filings. Total cumulative funding (including IPO) is **$704.3M**.
- **Key Metric**: **Revenue** – $2.194M in Q2 FY2026 (quarter ended June 30, 2026) per SEC 10-Q filing. The company is still in high-growth, pre-profit stage (Net Income: -$58.4M in Q2). **Employees** – 145 as of mid-2026, growing 26.7% YoY.
- **Notable Investors / Partners**: First Round Capital (seed lead), Inflection Point Acquisition Corp IV (SPAC sponsor), U.S. Special Operations Command (customer/partner), Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (regulatory partner).
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Over 100 hours of autonomous flight across test facilities in the U.S. and New Zealand.
  - Completed Critical Design Review for the C-130J program with USSOCOM.
  - Achieved Stage of Involvement 3 (SOI 3) from the New Zealand CAA for the Merlin Pilot’s Flight Control Computer and Automated Communication System.
  - First autonomous landing of a conventional fixed-wing aircraft at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (July 2026).
  - Acquired EpiSys Science (EpiSci) in 2024 to bolster AI/autonomy capabilities.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Aircraft-agnostic platform**: The Merlin Pilot is designed to work with any aircraft, reducing integration complexity for customers.
- **Proven autonomy**: Hundreds of hours of autonomous flight, including military-grade operations, de-risking adoption.
- **Regulatory leadership**: Early approvals from the New Zealand CAA (Part 146 Design Organization certificate, SOI 3) pave the way for commercial certification.
- **Prime military contracts**: Direct relationship with USSOCOM for the C-130J program provides a strong revenue and credibility anchor.
- **Talent density**: Engineers from top aerospace firms (Collins Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky, Aurora Flight Sciences) and a strong culture of safety and innovation.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale the C-130J program**: Move from CDR to production and deployment with USSOCOM.
- **Expand Condor product line**: Target large, multi-crew aircraft for both military and civil markets.
- **Achieve commercial certification**: Continue working with regulators (FAA, EASA, CAA) to certify the Merlin Pilot for commercial operations.
- **Grow government and defense contracts**: Leverage the public listing and existing relationships to win additional programs.
- **Hire aggressively**: Open roles in AI, autonomy software, systems engineering, program management, and business development (22 active openings as of Sept 2026).

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: “Breaking new ground at 10,000 ft” – collaborative, respectful, and tangible work that is “in use and progressing rapidly.” High morale driven by real-world impact.
- **Work Models**: Hybrid and on-site roles available. Primary locations: Boston, MA (HQ); North Kingstown, RI; Kerikeri, New Zealand; and Washington, DC.
- **Notable Perks**: Work on one of aviation’s hardest problems with a team that includes alumni from top aerospace and defense companies. Employees have delegated authority from the regulator to approve certain aircraft design changes, empowering engineers. The company prioritizes safety and partners with best-in-class aerospace players.
- **Engineering Culture**: Strong emphasis on AI, autonomy, and software engineering. The engineering team is 39% of the workforce, with senior and specialist roles heavily represented. Open roles include Staff Software Engineer (AI Foundation Model), Autonomy Software Engineer, and Lead AI Dataloop Engineer.

## Sources
1. [Merlin Labs – Company Page](https://merlinlabs.com/company/)
2. [Merlin Labs – Homepage](https://merlinlabs.com/)
3. [Merlin Labs – Careers Page](https://merlinlabs.com/careers/)
4. [Merlin Labs – Open Roles on Lever](https://jobs.lever.co/merlinlabs)
5. [Merlin Labs – LinkedIn Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/merlinlabs)
6. [SEC Filing – FY2026 Q2 10-Q](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0002028707) (via Apollo data reference)

## Other roles at Merlin Labs

- [Assistant General Counsel](https://feeny.ai/job/assistant-general-counsel-merlin-labs-boston-c9axfez1vng8) — Boston, MA
- [Senior Development Assurance Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-development-assurance-engineer-merlin-labs-boston-2wzsbvvgp1fs) — Boston, MA
- [Flight Dynamics Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/flight-dynamics-engineer-merlin-labs-boston-p4xv2x08kvd3) — Boston, MA
- [Staff Engineer, Avionics Integration](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-engineer-avionics-integration-merlin-labs-boston-2mbt1cv8aqm3) — Boston, MA
- [Electrical Engineering Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/electrical-engineering-lead-merlin-labs-boston-0kh9rcqt8xb0) — Boston, MA
- [Process Engineer, Configuration Management](https://feeny.ai/job/process-engineer-configuration-management-merlin-labs-boston-h9gbm8nyr0yg) — Boston, MA
- [Senior System Engineer - Integration & Verification](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-system-engineer-integration-verification-merlin-labs-boston-vkajae8ktmhg) — Boston, MA
- [Director, Assistant Controller](https://feeny.ai/job/director-assistant-controller-merlin-labs-boston-k8hkhxqe5hf4) — Boston, MA
- [Senior Manager, Strategic Finance](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-manager-strategic-finance-merlin-labs-boston-h3a7dh6rnkqa) — Boston, MA
- [Aircraft Coordinator](https://feeny.ai/job/aircraft-coordinator-merlin-labs-north-kingstown-1px3m45gnaqx) — North Kingstown, RI