Senior Hydrodynamics Engineer

At REGENT, we’re on a mission to revolutionize regional transportation between coastal cities. We're not just building vehicles, we're creating a new category of transportation: the Seaglider. These groundbreaking wing-in-ground-effect craft travel just above the water’s surface, combining the speed of an airplane with the low operating costs of a boat. Capable of 180 miles at 180 mph on today's battery tech (and up to 400 miles with next-gen batteries), Seagliders will unlock fast, affordable, and sustainable coastal transit for passengers and cargo - connecting cities, islands, and communities like never before.

Backed by leading investors and powered by a team of passionate, forward-thinking engineers, builders, and operators, we’re now scaling from a breakthrough prototype to full production - and building the team to make it happen.

ROLE OVERVIEW

As a Senior Hydrodynamics Engineer, you will lead the design, analysis, test, and certification of the Seaglider hydrofoil system. You will draw on analytical, empirical, and advanced computational methods to develop models of hull-sailing, hydrofoiling, takeoff, and landing. You will use these models to analyze vehicle dynamics, stability, and control, and to set operating limitations.

Many of these problems are highly coupled. You will know how to simplify them, when to apply deeper analytical rigor, and how to arrive at the most cost-effective solution, and then you'll test to prove it works.

As part of the Vehicle Sciences team, you'll join a group of driven, collaborative engineers who hold a high bar, move quickly, and think boldly to bring entirely new technology into the world.

If you're energized by working at the intersection of cutting-edge innovation, real-world impact, and hands-on engineering, you'll be in the right place, and we'd be thrilled to have you on the team!

WHAT YOU'LL DO:

• Conduct Hydrodynamic Analyses: Run and interpret free-surface CFD for float, takeoff, foiling, and touchdown, including ventilation, cavitation, spray, and hull impact.
• Define the Operational Envelope: Establish the conditions and limits within which the vehicle can safely float, take off, foil, and land, based on analysis and test data.
• Build the Models for the Simulator: Turn CFD and test results into reduced-order models, such as force and moment databases and ventilation and impact models, that feed our vehicle simulator.
• Evaluate Stability and Controllability on the Water: Assess how the vehicle behaves and responds to control inputs across the water envelope, and work with the controls team to carry the findings into control law development.
• Shape the Hydrofoil and Hull Design: Leverage lower order methods (vortex lattice, lifting line) and lead foil and strut trades on sizing, placement, planform, and airfoil.
• Support Loads Evaluation: Provide hydrodynamic pressure distributions and loads for hull, foil, and strut sizing, documented for design reviews and certification.
• Run the Toolchain: Build and maintain our hydrodynamic design and analysis tools, from low-fidelity foil design to CFD workflows, and cross-check them against each other.
• Correlate Analysis to Test: Define validation objectives for tow-tank, sub-scale, and full-scale on-water tests, work with flight test on instrumentation, and calibrate models against measured vehicle dynamics.
• Grow the Team: Mentor junior engineers and break large analysis problems into well-bounded tasks.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• Multiphase CFD: Expert with a commercial or open-source free-surface solver, including meshing, turbulence and multiphase modeling choices, and solution verification.
• Validation: You have compared CFD to experiment on a real vehicle, found where it was wrong, and fixed the model. You know the difference between converged and correct.
• Model Building: You have built reduced-order models from high-fidelity results that a simulation or controls team used.
• Lifting Surfaces: Solid grounding in foil hydrodynamics, and working knowledge of low- and mid-fidelity tools (panel, lifting-line, vortex-lattice), with the judgment to know when they suffice and when CFD is needed.
• Automation: Strong Python or MATLAB scripting on Linux/HPC. You automate geometry, meshing, and post-processing rather than click through them.
• Experiments: You have designed or run validation experiments (tow tank, wind tunnel, or on-vehicle test) and worked with real instrumentation data.
• Experience: Ideally M.S. or Ph.D. in Aerospace, Mechanical, Ocean, or Naval Engineering (or equivalent), with industry experience of applied fluid dynamics experience beyond the degree.
• Mentorship: Experience developing junior engineers or students.

WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• Collaborative Team Player: You believe that great things happen when teams work together. You communicate effectively with structures, controls, test, and design engineers, and you make sure your results land in a form the next team can use.
• Creative Problem Solver: You thrive on tackling complex physics with incomplete data. Whether it's a ventilated foil touchdown or a hull slamming into a wave, you find the right fidelity for the question and get to a defensible answer.
• Adaptable & Agile: In a fast-paced, ever-evolving startup environment, you move between hydro CFD, hand calculations, simulator modeling, and test support as priorities shift, and you keep progress going without missing a beat.
• Innovative Mindset: You're driven by curiosity and a passion for building things that haven't existed before. You continuously improve the team's tools, workflows, and standards for verification.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Competitive compensation including a robust equity incentive plan.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance - we cover 100% of your premiums.
• 401(k) with company matching, so you can plan for the future.
• Generous flexible time off, paid parental leave, and company-wide holiday breaks.
• Relocation packages available for those moving to join our team.
• Daily, free catered lunches
• Learning & professional development opportunities

If you’re ready to take on an exciting challenge, grow with us, and make a lasting impact, we want to hear from you. Even if you don’t meet every requirement, but you see yourself contributing to our mission, we encourage you to apply! We value diverse skillsets and experiences and believe in the potential of passionate individuals to make a big impact.

Equal Opportunity Employer

REGENT is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive work environment. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law.