Engineering Manager, Arc Vehicle Software
Inversion
$145,000 - $210,000 / 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:
As the Engineering Manager of Arc Vehicle Software at Inversion, you will report directly to the Chief Engineer of Arc. In this role, you will lead the development, integration, and deployment of the core flight software, ground software, and autonomy modules for our next-generation Arc hypersonic reentry vehicle. You will own the end-to-end software release cycle for the vehicle.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead daily operations, scheduling, and tasking for the Arc Software team, managing a team of flight software, ground software, and software test engineers.
- Own the delivery, integration, and deployment of all flight software and ground control software for the Arc vehicle.
- Coordinate directly with the centralized Software team to leverage platform-level libraries, ground control frameworks, and software engineering standards.
- Collaborate with the Reentry and Accurate Landing teams to integrate their respective GNC algorithms into the main flight software loop.
- Oversee the architecture and implementation of vehicle-level state machines, flight autonomy, fault protection, and system-level telemetry.
- Manage software-in-the-loop (SIL) and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing campaigns, ensuring high software quality through robust test automation.
- Drive real-time troubleshooting, software debugging, and rapid resolution of issues identified during vehicle assembly, environmental test, and flight operations.
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent technical experience.
- Typically 8+ years of hands-on experience in complex software development, with a focus on embedded C++ and high-reliability systems.
- Demonstrated experience leading engineering teams, managing software release cycles, or managing complex software integration projects.
- Strong fundamental knowledge of software architecture, embedded Linux, and multi-threaded systems.
- Deep proficiency in systems programming languages (C / C++ / Rust) in a Linux-based environment.
- Demonstrated excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to bridge hardware-to-software disciplines.
- Proven ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment.
- Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance.
Desired Qualifications:
- Experience with spacecraft, launch vehicle, or high-reliability autonomous systems software development.
- Familiarity with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test setups, network protocols (CAN, Ethernet, Serial), and telemetry architectures.
- Experience building and maintaining scalable DevOps, continuous integration, and automated testing (CI/CD) pipelines.
- 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 $145,000 - $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.
Benefits
- stock options
About this role
Inversion is building hypersonic reentry vehicles designed to deliver payloads anywhere on Earth in under an hour, and this role puts you in charge of the software that makes that possible. As Engineering Manager of Arc Vehicle Software, you'll lead a team developing flight software, ground software, and autonomy systems for a next-generation spacecraft operating in extreme conditions. You'll own the complete software release cycle—from architecture and integration through deployment and real-time troubleshooting during vehicle assembly, testing, and flight operations. This means working directly with reentry and landing teams to integrate their algorithms, managing SIL and HIL testing campaigns, and driving rapid problem resolution when issues surface.
The role demands deep technical depth alongside leadership capability. You'll need 8+ years building complex embedded systems in C++ and Linux environments, with proven experience managing software teams or large integration projects. Familiarity with spacecraft or high-reliability autonomous systems is valuable; experience with HIL testing, network protocols, and CI/CD pipelines is a plus. You report to the Chief Engineer and coordinate closely with a centralized software team, so strong cross-disciplinary communication—bridging hardware and software concerns—matters as much as your coding background.
This is an in-office position in Playa Vista, California, with a base salary of $145,000–$210,000. You'll need to be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and able to obtain a Secret/Top Secret security clearance due to ITAR compliance requirements.
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Pay for this role
$145,000 to $210,000 per year
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