Principal Mechanisms Engineer - Payloads (Aerospace)

Location: On-site in El Segundo, California, United States. Employment is limited to U.S. persons authorized to work in the United States and access export-controlled technology under ITAR requirements.

Salary: $181,913–$232,444 per year, plus potential stock options and/or long-term cash awards.

Company

hirify.global develops in-space manufacturing infrastructure, pharmaceutical processing payloads, reentry capsules, heat shields, and satellite buses.

What you will do

• Define architectures, requirements, and development plans for multi-payload and multi-mission systems.
• Lead the design of complex mechanisms and electromechanical subsystems for orbital, hypersonic reentry, and recovery missions.
• Drive system-level analyses, trade studies, risk reduction, and technical documentation using hand calculations, Python, MATLAB, FEA, and other tools as needed.
• Lead cross-functional teams across avionics, software, thermal, systems, and integration.
• Lead build, integration, environmental testing, mission operations, recovery, and anomaly resolution.
• Mentor engineers, guide lessons learned, and represent engineering efforts to leadership and external partners.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field.
• 7+ years of experience designing, integrating, testing, and troubleshooting electromechanical hardware.
• Deep mechanical expertise with breadth across at least two adjacent disciplines, such as avionics, software, thermal, optics, or test.
• Experience leading teams through the full development cycle of electromechanical space flight hardware.
• Experience communicating with technical and executive audiences, internally and externally.
• Must be a U.S. person authorized to work in the United States and access export-controlled items under ITAR requirements.

Nice to have

• 3+ years of cross-functional project leadership experience.
• Experience planning and executing aerospace environmental testing, including vibration, TVAC, and EMI/EMC.
• Experience leading government-facing technical programs.
• Active Secret or Top Secret clearance.

Culture & Benefits

• Regular full-time employment with flexible PTO and 12 paid holidays.
• Company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance with FSA and employer-matched HSA options.
• Parental leave, family-building support, wellness reimbursement, and sponsored One Medical memberships.
• 401(k) plan with a 6% employer match, incentive equity, and cell phone reimbursement.
• Relocation support may be available for new hires, with catered meals, team events, and complimentary EV charging.