Senior TPS Design Engineer

Inversion Space•Playa Vista, CA 95814, US• Full Time

Posted 1 month ago• Mechanical

Compensation

$150,000–$210,000/year

Job Description

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 carriage, ocean faring 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.   

What You’ll Do:

Inversion’s reentry vehicles are pushing the limits of hypersonic flight and our Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) are critical to success. As a Mechanical Design Engineer, you will work alongside Inversion’s aerothermal and structures teams to design, manufacture and integrate a high performance, cost effective TPS for Inversion’s lifting-body reentry vehicles. In this role, you will:

Design cutting edge thermal protection systems for Inversion’s Arc vehicle
Organize development and qualification testing of TPS materials and installations
Develop accelerated TPS integration methods to reduce manufacturing time
Develop the analysis and design workflow of the flight heatshields for flight vehicles
Explore trades between TPS materials and manufacturing methods
Work with outside vendors, suppliers, and testing resources to bring new materials, capabilities, and processes in-house at Inversion

Required Qualifications:

Minimum of Bachelor’s degree in Material Science, Materials Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or Chemical Engineering OR equivalent experience in a relevant field
Typically, 5+ years of professional experience working with, formulating, or producing materials for extreme temperature environments (Reentry, Rocketry, Hypersonics, Propulsion, Nuclear Power, etc.)
Experience using Siemens NX or similar CAD software
Proven ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment
This role is onsite at our Playa Vista, California office

Desired Qualifications:

Professional experience in design, testing, and integration of thermal protection systems for hypersonic or reentry flight vehicles
Professional experience working with, formulating, or producing ablative or ceramic TPS
Strong understanding of the fundamentals behind aerothermal heating of reentry vehicles, TPS production, and thermal environments of extreme temperature applications
Prior experience working in startups and/or small independent teams

Our office headquarters is located in Playa Vista, CA. This position requires in office presence.

The California annual base salary for this role is currently $150,000-$210,000.  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. 

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ITAR Compliance:

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Equal Employment Opportunity:

Inversion provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status, or disability.

Inversion collects and processes personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws. If you are a US Job Applicant see the CCPA Privacy Policy Notice for further details.