Staff Special Projects Engineer
Inversion
$161,000 - $221,000 / year
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Description
Advanced Reentry Technologies
Who We Are:
Inversion is an aerospace and defense company pioneering advanced reentry technology to enable next-generation capabilities from space. By combining high-performance materials, precision aerodynamics, and mission-driven autonomy, Inversion is transforming reentry into an operational capability for an entirely new class of missions.
The company’s highly maneuverable reentry spacecraft, Arc, is designed for rapid global cargo delivery, hypersonic testing, and other national security missions that require precise, controlled flight through the atmosphere. Arc creates an entirely new transportation domain, unlocking unprecedented speed and global reach.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, Inversion designs, manufactures, and integrates its spacecraft under one roof, enabling the company to move rapidly from concept to flight. The company is backed by leading investors including Y Combinator, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures, with customers across the U.S. government and commercial space industry.
Position Overview:
The Special Projects team at Inversion is an elite force within the Office of the CTO. It consists of highly capable engineering experts from diverse fields. The charter of this group is to tackle Inversion’s new technology developments. The Special Projects team is designed from the beginning to operate effectively within ambiguity. They will be the first to ideate, create, and deploy new products, new technologies, and new research in Inversion. Individuals in the Special Projects team will be expected to rapidly gain depth and breadth of understanding of a wide range of interdisciplinary skills and technologies that may be unfamiliar to you.
Individuals in this team are expected to rapidly gain depth and breadth across interdisciplinary domains that may be completely unfamiliar. If you require structure, a large team, or step-by-step direction this is not the place for you. If you thrive on solving impossible problems, building from nothing, and refusing to accept “that can’t be done” you’ll fit right in.
Key Responsibilities:
- Partner directly with the CTO to conceive, architect, and develop new hypersonic and reentry vehicle concepts and technologies.
- Lead the system-level design and performance modeling of advanced flight systems, including trajectory analysis, GNC trade studies, and overall vehicle performance optimization.
- Create conceptual and detailed CAD models for proposed systems and subsystems as part of early-stage proposals and design efforts.
- Translate high-level product ideas into executable proposals that win contracts and enable new technology development within Inversion.
- Build, test, and iterate from running 6DOF simulations to hands-on prototyping and experimental validation in a fast, skunkworks-style environment.
- Operate independently, make hard technical decisions under uncertainty, and drive ideas to reality without waiting for permission or perfect data.
Required Qualifications:
- Typically, 9+ years of experience in aerospace engineering, with a focus on system-level vehicle design, analysis, and integration.
- Demonstrated experience designing and modeling hypersonic, reentry, or launch vehicle systems.
- Strong foundation in flight dynamics, aerothermodynamics, GNC, and trajectory/performance analysis.
- Proficiency in CAD and mechanical design for aerospace applications.
- Proven ability to take an idea from zero to one designing, prototyping, and validating hardware from scratch.
- A track record of self-directed, high-ownership work whether through startups or projects.
- Deep first-principles reasoning skills; ability to move fluidly between conceptual thinking and detailed engineering.
- Must be able to work fully onsite and thrive in a fast-paced, ambiguity-rich environment.
- Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance.
Desired Qualifications:
- Prior experience in hypersonics, reentry systems, or rocket vehicle design and development.
- Familiarity with 6DOF modeling, simulation environments, and control system analysis.
- Background founding or being an early team member in startup teams where autonomy and execution were critical to success.
- Experience with multi-disciplinary integration of mechanical, thermal, and aerodynamic systems.
- Demonstrated ability to rapidly prototype and test unconventional solutions.
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 $161,000 - $221,000. 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.
Benefits
- stock options
About this role
Inversion's Special Projects team operates as an elite engineering unit within the Office of the CTO, tasked with developing breakthrough hypersonic and reentry vehicle technologies. This role puts you at the center of that mission—working directly with the CTO to conceive, architect, and validate next-generation flight systems from concept through prototype. You'll own the full system-level design process: trajectory analysis, guidance and control trade studies, aerothermodynamic modeling, CAD development, and hands-on testing in a skunkworks environment where speed and autonomy matter more than process.
The position demands 10+ years of aerospace systems engineering with deep expertise in hypersonic or reentry vehicle design, flight dynamics, GNC, and performance analysis. You need to be comfortable moving fluidly between first-principles thinking and detailed engineering, and you must have a proven track record of taking ideas from zero to one—whether through startups or major hardware development efforts. The role is fully onsite in Playa Vista and requires the ability to obtain a U.S. government security clearance.
This is not a role for engineers who need structure, clear direction, or a large support team. It suits someone who thrives on solving problems others consider impossible, who operates effectively under ambiguity, and who has the self-direction and ownership mentality to drive decisions forward without waiting for perfect data. The salary range is $161,000–$221,000.
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Pay for this role
$161,000 to $221,000 per year
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