Electric Motor Design Engineer

Unusual Machines is a U.S.-based drone and drone parts company focused on the small and First-Person View (FPV) segments of the drone market. Our brands - Rotor Riot, Fat Shark, Rotor Lab and - coming soon - Upgrade Energy - are some of the most respected names in FPV and have helped shape the industry through e-commerce, product development, and a deep connection with the pilot community.

We’re expanding into enterprise and defense - bringing our obsessive attention to performance, design, and U.S.-based manufacturing into high-stakes environments like search and rescue and military innovation. With several of our products already approved by the Defense Innovation Unit, we’re solving procurement issues for customers who demand speed, agility, and compliance.

If you love working at the intersection of community, content, and cutting-edge technology, you’ll feel right at home here.

You in this Role

The Electric Machine Design & Simulation Engineer develops high-performance UAV propulsion motors through electromagnetic design, simulation, and optimization. They predict motor performance before hardware exists, balancing efficiency, thrust capability, thermal behaviour, reliability, weight, and manufacturability. The role combines advanced simulation with practical engineering judgment, helping transform mission requirements into production-ready propulsion systems that perform reliably in demanding real-world flight conditions.

A Day in the Life

This role works closely with mechanical design, test and validation, manufacturing, and production teams. They develop simulation models, support prototype builds, correlate simulation results against physical testing, and continuously refine motor designs to improve flight performance, thermal efficiency, reliability, and manufacturability.

What You'll Do

· Design and optimize BLDC and PMSM motors for UAV propulsion applications.

· Perform 2D and 3D electromagnetic simulation including magnetic fields, losses, thermal behaviour, and coupled system effects.

· Generate motor parameters including KV, Kt, back-EMF, inductance, resistance, efficiency maps, and predicted operating envelopes.

· Develop and optimize motor geometry, winding configurations, magnet layouts, and material selections.

· Model propulsion system behaviour across key flight conditions including hover, cruise, climb, and peak power events.

· Support prototype builds, testing, and validation activities to correlate simulation predictions with measured performance.

· Work closely with manufacturing teams to ensure designs remain practical, scalable, and cost-effective for production.

· Establish simulation workflows, design methodologies, and performance prediction discipline as the engineering organization grows.

What You'll Bring

· 3-5 years industry experience in electric machine design, motor development, or electromagnetic simulation.

· Strong understanding of BLDC or PMSM motor operating principles.

· Experience with electromagnetic simulation tools such as Maxwell, JMAG, Motor-CAD, Flux, or equivalent software.

· Understanding of magnetic materials, motor losses, thermal effects, and efficiency optimization.

· Ability to translate simulation results into practical engineering decisions and validated hardware.

· Strong analytical skills with a data-driven engineering mindset.

Nice to Have

· Experience designing UAV propulsion systems.

· Experience with aerospace, robotics, or high-performance rotating machinery.

· Experience correlating simulation models to laboratory or flight-test data.

· Familiarity with thermal analysis and multiphysics simulation methods.

· Experience supporting production-scale motor development and optimization.

Benefits

• Equity

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Benefits

• 401(k)

• Generous PTO

• Paid Holidays

• Daily Catered Lunches

We are an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status.

Unusual Machines participates in E-Verify. E-Verify is an Internet-based system that compares information from an employee's Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration records to confirm employment eligibility.

Candidates must be a US Citizen or permanent resident to be eligible for employment