Staff Vehicle 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:
As a Staff Vehicle Engineer at Inversion, you will report directly to the Chief Engineer. In this role, you will tackle some of the most complex, interdisciplinary technical challenges across the entire Arc hypersonic reentry vehicle. You will be a technical anchor that ensures all subsystems converge into a high-performance, flight-ready vehicle across structures, aerothermal, GNC, avionics, and propulsion. 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:
- Lead cross-subsystem integration and resolve complex, multi-disciplinary engineering bottlenecks across the Arc vehicle.
- Own system-level trade studies balancing mass, power, thermal, aerodynamic, and structural performance.
- Define, manage, and enforce interface control documents (ICDs) and hardware-to-hardware interfaces across all vehicle subsystems.
- Own vehicle-level requirements flow-down, verification plans, and system-level validation strategies.
- Partner directly with the Chief Engineer to drive technical reviews and make critical architecture-level design decisions under uncertainty.
- Develop and maintain the vehicle master mass properties, volume budgets, and performance margins.
- Lead root-cause investigations for complex, multi-system technical anomalies during integration and testing.
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or equivalent technical experience.
- Typically 8+ years of experience in aerospace engineering, with a focus on system-level vehicle design, integration, and multidisciplinary analysis.
- Proven track record of solving highly complex multi-system problems on launch vehicles, spacecraft, hypersonic systems, or reentry vehicles.
- Strong foundation in first-principles engineering across structural mechanics, thermal, avionics, GNC, or fluid systems.
- Proficiency in CAD and mechanical design for aerospace applications.
- Ability to operate independently and drive technical clarity in highly ambiguous environments.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance.
Desired Qualifications:
- Master's or Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
- Prior experience in hypersonic's, high-speed atmospheric flight, or reentry vehicle 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 $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 is building hypersonic reentry vehicles to deliver payloads from space to anywhere on Earth in under an hour. As Staff Vehicle Engineer, you'd report to the Chief Engineer and serve as the technical anchor ensuring all subsystems of the Arc vehicle—structures, aerothermal, guidance and control, avionics, and propulsion—work together as a flight-ready system. This is a senior integration role where you'll own cross-subsystem trade studies, define interface control documents, manage vehicle-level requirements and verification, and partner directly with leadership on architecture decisions. You'll also maintain mass and volume budgets, lead root-cause investigations during testing, and drive technical clarity in a startup environment where ambiguity is the norm.
The role demands 8+ years of aerospace experience with a strong track record on complex vehicle programs—launch vehicles, spacecraft, or reentry systems. You need a solid foundation in first-principles engineering across multiple disciplines, proficiency in aerospace CAD, and the ability to work independently while communicating clearly across teams. A background in hypersonics or high-speed atmospheric flight is valued but not required; what matters most is having solved hard multidisciplinary problems before. You'll need to obtain a Secret or Top Secret security clearance and meet ITAR citizenship requirements.
Based in Playa Vista, this is a full in-office role with a salary range of $161,000–$221,000. The position suits experienced aerospace engineers ready to move from contributor to system-level owner on a mission-critical program backed by Y Combinator, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures.
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Pay for this role
$161,000 to $221,000 per year
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