Principal Spacecraft Operations Engineer (Aerospace)

Location: Onsite in Long Beach, California, United States

Base salary: $173,300–$259,850 USD annually. Total compensation including equity: $223,025–$339,400 USD annually.

Company

hirify.global is an end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, payloads, and critical subsystems for commercial, civil, and national security missions.

What you will do

• Lead mission operations technical direction, strategy, planning, prioritization, and program-level design trades.
• Advocate for spacecraft and ground-system operability, safety, efficiency, autonomy, and scalability.
• Own mission operations requirements and lead validation and verification for spacecraft missions and system capabilities.
• Define automation strategies and develop software-driven methods for mission operations, testing, data analysis, and fleet operations.
• Design, develop, and test flight software sequences, FDIR and telemetry configurations, ground software, scripting, and automation frameworks.
• Author operational specifications and procedures, validate flight products using flatsat, HITL, SIL, and digital-twin simulations, support spacecraft integration tests, and represent mission operations in reviews and readiness gates.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in software, computer, electrical, aerospace, mechanical, or another technical engineering discipline.
• 12+ years of direct experience in space mission design, satellite subsystems, ground systems, spacecraft command and control, or spacecraft operations.
• 5+ years leading engineering teams through spacecraft missions or related aerospace projects, with experience as a Mission Lead, Mission Director, Flight Director, or Senior Spacecraft Operations Engineer.
• On-console or operator-in-the-loop mission operations experience and strong knowledge of ADCS, EPS, communications, C&DH, thermal control, propulsion, and FDIR.
• 5+ years of software development experience using Python, Ruby, C, C++, or other high-level languages for flight scripts, ground automation, and data analysis.
• Active U.S. Government Secret Security Clearance required. U.S. office employees must meet applicable ITAR eligibility or authorization requirements, including qualifying U.S. citizenship, permanent residence, refugee/asylee status, or required government authorization.

Nice to have

• Master’s or PhD in engineering.
• Experience in spacecraft operations, satellite system design, or satellite ground systems.
• Experience with Git, CI/CD, cloud infrastructure, Jira, SIL testing, or HIL testing.
• Active TS/SCI U.S. Government Security Clearance.

Culture & Benefits

• Employee stock purchase program with a 15% discount and company equity as part of total compensation.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage, including HMO, PPO, and a zero-cost HDHP option with HSA contributions.
• Paid vacation, sick time, holidays, parental leave, disability and life insurance, and a 401(k) with company match.
• Additional benefits include subsidized EV charging, fitness facilities where available, gym discounts, snacks and beverages, and employee discounts.
• Work involves collaboration across U.S. and New Zealand engineering teams and may include occasional exposure to production-area noise, dust, and fumes.