Space Structural Analyst (Aerospace)

Location: Onsite in Torrance, California, in the Los Angeles area. Applicants must satisfy U.S. government export-control requirements, including U.S. citizenship or nationality, lawful permanent residence, refugee or asylee status, or eligibility to obtain the required authorizations.

Salary: $145,000–$185,000 annually, plus equity.

Company

hirify.global is a Series B aerospace and advanced nuclear energy startup developing mass-producible, inherently safe microreactors for terrestrial, underwater, and space applications.

What you will do

• Own stress analysis and structural dynamics for space nuclear hardware from component through integrated vehicle level.
• Build and maintain finite element models and perform static, modal, random vibration, acoustic, thermal-stress, fatigue, shock, and stability analyses.
• Support structural design for reactor supports, radiators, brackets, panels, payload interfaces, fixtures, and flight-like development hardware.
• Derive launch and test loads, define analysis plans and verification approaches, and translate launch-provider environments into design requirements.
• Plan and execute vibration, modal, acoustic, and structural development tests, including fixtures, instrumentation, procedures, data review, and model correlation.
• Communicate structural risks and verification status in design reviews, investigate failures and anomalies, and develop reusable analysis workflows.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, aerospace, civil/structural engineering, engineering mechanics, or a related technical discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in structural analysis, stress analysis, structural dynamics, aerospace structures, spacecraft hardware, launch vehicle hardware, or related fields.
• Strong fundamentals in solid mechanics, strength of materials, structural dynamics, vibration, fatigue, bolted joints, load paths, stiffness, and stability.
• Experience building and running finite element models for complex mechanical or aerospace hardware.
• Experience analyzing static loads, modal response, random vibration, acoustic environments, fatigue, thermal stress, or coupled structural loads.
• Ability to work onsite in Torrance and meet U.S. government export-control eligibility requirements.

Nice to have

• Master’s degree or higher in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, engineering mechanics, structural dynamics, or a related field.
• Experience with spacecraft, launch vehicles, satellites, payloads, defense systems, nuclear systems, or other high-reliability aerospace hardware.
• Experience with vibration test campaigns, launch loads derivation, coupled loads analysis, notching, model correlation, or qualification testing.
• Experience with NASTRAN, FEMAP, Patran, Abaqus, ANSYS, HyperMesh, OptiStruct, Simcenter, NX, or equivalent FEA tools.
• Familiarity with Python, Git, coupled thermal-structural analysis, CTE mismatch, fatigue, fracture mechanics, buckling, nonlinear contact, or composite structures.

Culture & Benefits

• Series B startup environment focused on advanced nuclear energy, aerospace, defense, and space systems.
• Significant stock option package in addition to salary.
• Emphasis on systems thinking, first-principles judgment, end-user focus, and challenging conventional approaches.
• Teams prioritize in-person collaboration and direct engagement with customers, users, and stakeholders.
• Ability to work long hours and weekends when required to support critical milestones.