Autonomy Systems Engineer III (Flight Rules & Fault Management)

Inversion • Los Angeles, CA

31d • $125,000 - $145,000 • Onsite

About The Position

We're building a hypersonic reentry spacecraft called Arc that can return from orbit and land accurately on Earth in under one hour. As the Autonomy Systems Engineer, you will own the rules, logic, and safety structure that govern how the vehicle behaves: mission rules, state transitions, fault trees, and autonomous decision criteria. You’ll work closely with autonomy software, GNC, safety, and missions team to ensure that Arc always knows what to do next and when to protect itself.

Requirements

• 6+ years in systems engineering, mission operations, autonomy, aerospace, or robotics
• Experience with mission rules, fault management, FDIR, or safety analysis
• Ability to define behavior for complex systems with incomplete information
• Strong communication skills across software, GNC, safety, and operations
• Comfortable owning critical architecture in a small, high-trust team
• Hands-on experience with git workflows and contributing to shared technical repositories

Nice To Haves

• Experience contributing flight code in C++, rust, or Python
• Experience with spacecraft, autonomous aircraft, or high-reliability systems
• Familiarity with state machines, fault trees, and hazard analysis techniques
• Background in flight test, mission simulation, or safety-critical operations

Responsibilities

• Define mission rules and vehicle behavior through all phases of flight
• Build and maintain the On-Board Fault Monitor structure and fault-handling logic
• Create and update fault trees, hazard analyses, and autonomous response plans
• Define state transitions and decision criteria for normal, off-nominal, and contingency modes
• Translate program-level requirements into clear autonomy logic and testable behaviors
• Collaborate with GNC, Perception, Avionics, and Flight Ops to ensure safe integrated behavior
• Work with autonomy software engineers to implement mission logic and fault responses
• Validate flight rules using simulation data, flight telemetry, and scenario testing
• Support flight test readiness reviews and mission rehearsals

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 11-50 employees