Materials Engineer II (Thermal Protection Systems)

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 Materials Engineer, you will work alongside Inversion’s aerodynamic, structures, and aerothermal teams to design the flight TPS for Inversion’s lifting-body reentry vehicles and explore ideal TPS solutions for performance, production, and cost. In this role, you will: 

• Develop, test, and qualify new or refined thermal protection systems for Inversion’s Arc vehicle
• Develop the analysis and design workflow of the flight heatshields for flight vehicles
• Explore trades between ablatives, ceramics, and other TPS materials
• 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, 3+ 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:  

• Master's degree or PhD in Material Science, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Materials Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or equivalent field
• Strong understanding of the fundamentals behind aerothermal heating of reentry vehicles, TPS production, and thermal environments of extreme temperature applications
• Professional experience working with, formulating, or producing ablative or ceramic TPS
• Professional experience in design, testing, and flight integration of reentry thermal protection systems
• 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 $110,000 - $130,000.  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.