Staff Mission Design Engineer

Inversion • Los Angeles, CA

108d • $169,000 - $199,000

About The Position

Eras of humanity can often be defined by a dominant transportation mode - horse-drawn chariots, ocean-going boats, or aircraft. These were spurred by a small group of people 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. Inversion’s lifting-body reentry platform will create a highly maneuverable, highly accurate, and low-cost vehicle that will be industry-first. The Staff Mission Design Engineer will be responsible for developing a workflow to support the flight simulation data products required for flight safety analysis. This role will also aid in designing and executing system-level performance trade studies to drive key architecture decisions for current and conceptual reentry vehicles. You will own customer-facing performance predictions and safety analysis and be a key contributor to Inversion's advanced development efforts.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering or equivalent experience.
• Typically 12+ years of aerospace system performance analysis.
• Strong knowledge of 3-DOF and 6-DOF flight simulation.
• Experience using flight simulation environments for flight safety analysis.
• Familiarity with debris catalog generation.
• Familiarity with trajectory design for space launch, reentry, or hypersonic systems.
• Familiarity with aerodynamic prediction tools (e.g., DATCOM, CBAERO, Cart3D).
• Familiarity with trajectory optimization tools (POST, OTIS, QuickShot).
• Experience using programming languages like Python, MATLAB for workflow automation.
• Proven ability to work in a fast-paced environment.

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering or equivalent experience.
• End-to-end space mission analysis experience.
• Strong knowledge of low/mid/high fidelity estimation of hypersonic vehicle aerodynamics.
• Significant experience with trajectory optimization tools and custom toolchains.
• Experience driving space system architectures using trajectory optimization software.
• Space constellation design experience, including familiarity with STK.

Responsibilities

• Develop a workflow to support flight simulation data products for flight safety analysis.
• Design and execute system-level performance trade studies for reentry vehicles.
• Own customer-facing performance predictions and safety analysis.
• Contribute to Inversion's advanced development efforts.

Benefits

• California annual base salary of $169,000-$199,000.
• Equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status, or disability.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 11-50 employees