Senior Structural Design Engineer

Turning Space into a Transportation Layer for Earth

Who We Are: 

Eras of humanity can often be defined by a dominant transportation mode - horse-drawn chariots, ocean-going boats, or aircraft. A small group of people spurred these rigorously focused on building technology to achieve faster access to more of the world. We seek to usher in a new era of humanity defined by universal access to the whole globe, free of borders and the presence of a routine way from space to Earth. To do this, we are building highly maneuverable re-entry vehicles that can loiter in orbit before precision landing back on Earth.   

What You’ll Do: 

The structural design engineer will lead the development of a multipurpose reentry vehicle payload bay. This is a unique opportunity to work on the early stages of a novel reentry vehicle while allowing your creativity to define mission architecture. Inversion is currently building a Missions Team with the payload being a focal point. This role will develop the payload bay of a reentry vehicle based on customer feedback, industry standards, and innovative concepts. On a day-to-day basis, you will work with the engineering team, business development, and mission management to come up with ideas to accommodate payloads for a range of missions, both commercial and defense-related. The role will involve researching potential payloads, designing payload bay concepts, defining environmental loading, and pursuing the design through manufacture, test, and launch. 

Required Qualifications: 

• Minimum of bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or related field OR equivalent experience  
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team of mechanical, electrical, and software engineers, designing and building space-flight hardware 
• Strong mechanical design skills related to mechanisms, packaging, high-load environments, and user interface 
• Familiarity with CAD software 
• Creative package design experience to meet a range of customer needs 
• Comfortable with all aspects of a program, taking a design from concept through launch 
• Typically 6+ years applicable experience (open to experience in fields other than aerospace) 
• Proven ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment. Demonstrated excellent verbal and written communication skills.  
• This position is onsite at Inversion HQ in Playa Vista, CA.

Desired Qualifications: 

• Master’s degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or related field 
• 8+ years applicable experience (open to experience in fields other than aerospace)
• Familiarity with design and test standards such as SMC-S-016, MIL-STD-810H, and launch vehicle payload user’s guides
• Prior experience in design and test of qualified space-flight hardware 

The California annual base salary for this role is currently $140,000-$180,000.  Pay Grades are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data.  Individual pay will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: interviews and an assessment of several factors that are unique to each candidate, job-related skills, relevant education and experience, certifications, abilities of the candidate and internal equity.