How To Become A Loads Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a loads engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

It can be terrifying when choosing your profession, particularly if you look at a career that needs several years of investment. Being a Loads Engineer requires years of work experience and hard work to get far because it is a very competitive industry. It is more than just computing mathematical equations and understanding aircraft dynamics.

Loads Engineers carry out engineering activities like designing and developing aircraft, missiles, and spacecraft design. They can undertake fundamental and applied research to determine material and equipment adaptability to aircraft design and development. They may also suggest upgrades in equipment and procedures for research.

On a daily basis, Loads Engineers' duties involve creating load schedules, load cases, and appropriate qualification checks. They are also in charge of implementing the load database for the production team to uses. Most employers expect candidates to have familiarity with the derivation of static and dynamic aircraft loads.

ScoreLoads EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.6

Avg. Salary $98,255

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

5.4

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.30%

Asian 11.02%

Black or African American 4.15%

Hispanic or Latino 10.87%

Unknown 4.43%

White 69.23%

Gender

female 8.33%

male 91.67%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

5.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.0

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.7

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become a loads engineer

Explore loads engineer education requirements

Most common loads engineer degrees

Bachelor's

69.8 %

Master's

15.9 %

High School Diploma

4.8 %

Start to develop specific loads engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
MATLAB	34.30%
Loads Analysis	9.48%
Dynamic Analysis	7.73%
FAA	6.37%
Design Loads	5.32%

Complete relevant loads engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New loads engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a loads engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real loads engineer resumes.

Research loads engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage Jenkins security by providing specific access to authorize developers/testers using project base matrix authorization strategy.
Write certification documents for the FAA in agreement with relevant CFRs.
Support extended wind tunnel testing at AEDC, LM, NASA Langley and NASA Marshall facilities.
Provide subsystem product concept evaluations and assembly design suggestions to support new product development for missile subsystems energy management.

Apply for loads engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a loads engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

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