Test Engineer II
Inversion
$106,000 - $150,000 / year
Need a reasonable accommodation to apply or interview? Contact us.
JobMinglr uses automated technology to recommend jobs based on profile information and job preferences. Match Score does not determine eligibility for a position, prevent a user from viewing or applying to a job, or make hiring decisions on behalf of an employer.
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
As a Test Engineer at Inversion, you will play a critical role in the design, functionality, and performance of our next-generation reentry vehicles. This is a unique opportunity to work on the early stages of vehicle design, including defining vehicle architecture and creatively solving new design challenges. You will be a key member of the Accurate Landing Team, reporting directly to the Director of Engineering, Accurate Landing. In this role, you will:
- Test high-performance accurate landing and recovery systems through ground test and aerial drop test campaigns.
- Develop and own relevant test equipment, procedures, reports and analyses.
- Coordinate and lead the logistics of flight test days and recovery.
- Coordinate test activities with external vendors and suppliers.
- Lead test operations with a high degree of safety, accountability, and responsibility.
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, a related field, or equivalent experience.
- Typically 2+ years of applicable hands-on experience testing hardware systems.
- Demonstrated excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Capable of working in a dynamic, fast-paced startup environment.
- Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance.
Desired Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, a related field, or equivalent experience.
- Demonstrated history of test campaign ownership from cradle to grave.
- Experience with vehicle-level flight test campaigns and hardware qualification.
- Experience testing parachutes and airborne systems.
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 $106,000-150,000. 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 is building spacecraft designed to deliver payloads anywhere on Earth in under an hour, and they're looking for a Test Engineer II to help prove these systems work. You'd join the Accurate Landing Team reporting directly to the Director of Engineering, owning the ground and aerial drop tests that validate landing and recovery systems. This means designing test equipment, writing procedures and analyses, managing the logistics of flight test days, coordinating with external vendors, and leading operations with safety and accountability as your foundation. It's early-stage vehicle development work where you'll help shape the architecture of next-generation reentry vehicles.
You'll need at least two years of hands-on hardware testing experience and a degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering (or equivalent). Strong communication matters here—both written and verbal—since you'll be coordinating across teams and vendors in a fast-moving startup. The role requires U.S. citizenship or permanent residency and the ability to obtain a Secret/Top Secret security clearance due to ITAR regulations. The position is full-time, in-office at their Playa Vista headquarters, with a base salary range of $106,000–$150,000.
If you've led test campaigns from start to finish, worked on vehicle-level flight tests, or tested parachute and airborne systems, those experiences would strengthen your candidacy. This is a hands-on role for someone who wants to work on ambitious aerospace hardware in a funded startup backed by Y Combinator, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures.
Typical pay for this role
$120,000
Typical range: $100,000 to $120,000
This role's local market on JobMinglr
Pay for this role
$106,000 to $150,000 per year
That is the employer's posted range, and where you land in it is usually decided in one conversation. Before that conversation, run the numbers: analyze an offer for this role.
Before you apply, worth reading
How JobMinglr reads this job
Every listing here is scored against your profile before you apply: skills overlap, experience level, location and work arrangement, each weighted and explained. You see the score and the reasons, not just a list. How the matching works.