Flight Dynamics Engineer, Orbits R&D (Aerospace)

Location: Hybrid in San Francisco, California; office attendance required 3 days per week

Salary: $114,200–$142,700 USD per year for the San Francisco location

Company

hirify.global designs, builds, and operates a large constellation of imaging satellites and delivers Earth observation data through a cloud-based platform.

What you will do

• Design and architect software solutions for satellite mission design.
• Develop and automate tools for evaluating mission design trade-offs.
• Apply flight dynamics and software engineering to complex optimization problems.
• Optimize imaging and ground-contact scheduling for hirify.global’s satellite constellations.
• Collaborate with mission planning, flight dynamics, and ground software teams.
• Support operations of existing fleets and enable future satellite missions.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, physics, or a related technical field.
• 2–3 years of relevant professional experience.
• Experience with orbital mechanics and space mission operations.
• Software development experience in C++ and Python.
• Ability to perform first-principles analysis and operationalize MVP solutions.
• Strong written and verbal technical communication skills.

Nice to have

• Experience with constellation and mission design trade studies.
• Experience with orbit determination, high-fidelity propagation, covariance realism, low-thrust mission design, maneuver automation, or constellation management.
• Experience maintaining peer-reviewed code with automated testing and continuous integration and deployment.

Culture & Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision plans.
• Health Savings Account with company contribution.
• Paid time off, holidays, company-wide days off, and 16 weeks of paid parental leave.
• Wellness and employee assistance programs.
• Home office, phone, internet, commuter, tuition, and learning benefits.
• Equity and paid volunteering time off.

Hiring process

• Select interviews may use AI-assisted recording and transcription with candidate consent.
• AI tools are prohibited during live interviews and active assessments unless explicitly permitted.