Staff Special Projects Engineer

Eras of humanity can often be defined by a dominant transportation mode - horse drawn chariots, ocean going 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: 

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. 

In this role, you will: 

• 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: 

• 10+ 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. 

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 $170,000 - $200,000.  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.