Poseidon Aerospace

Director of Certification

San Francisco Bay Area · Director

Sponsorship not specifiedDetected 106 days ago

ComplianceLogisticsAvionicsCommunication

About the role

You will define and execute the regulatory pathway that aligns engineering, flight test, and operational decisions with a credible approval strategy, ensuring that development and testing efforts generate meaningful certification evidence.
This role sits at the center of how Poseidon interfaces with regulators, structures flight test campaigns, and de-risks future operational approvals.

Develop and maintain Poseidon's Certification Master Plan, including certification basis, means of compliance, evidence strategy, and phased approval pathways.
Lead preparation for regulator engagements, technical briefings, and formal submissions.
Drive resolution of certification issues and alignment on expectations.
Ensure certification considerations are incorporated early into system architecture and design decisions.
Partner with flight test and engineering teams to align test planning with certification evidence needs.
Select and manage external certification resources including DERs, consultants, test labs, and conformity support.
Coordinate conformity planning and compliance expectations with suppliers and partners.
Relocation support if applicable

10+ years of experience in aircraft certification, airworthiness, or regulatory compliance leadership.
Experience aligning engineering development and flight test programs with certification objectives.
Ability to operate independently in ambiguous, first-of-type or novel aircraft environments.
Strong communication skills with the ability to explain certification risk and tradeoffs to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Demonstrated ownership of certification programs involving regulator engagement, certification basis definition, and means of compliance.
Background working with DERs, ODAs, or equivalent certification partners.
Predictable, constructive engagement with regulators and external partners.

Experience with unmanned aircraft, novel configurations, or autonomy-enabled systems.
Prior experience negotiating special conditions or non-standard certification pathways.
Experience bridging military airworthiness and civil certification expectations.
A clear, executable certification strategy that guides engineering and test decisions.
Flight test activities that produce usable certification evidence.
Reduced program risk through early identification and management of certification issues.

Competitive salary and meaningful early-stage equity
Employee Health Benefit Plans
6% Retirement matching
Distinguish between engineering learning tests and certification-relevant tests to maximize return on test investment.

At Poseidon Aerospace, we value diverse perspectives and are always looking for talented individuals with unconventional backgrounds.

This listing is sourced directly from Poseidon Aerospace's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.