Principal Turbomachinery Engineer (Spacecraft)

Location: Los Angeles, CA, United States. The role involves access to ITAR-controlled information and requires a U.S. person or eligibility for a federally issued export control license.

Base salary: $175,000–$200,000 per year, plus company equity.

Company

hirify.global develops and mass-produces high-power satellite platforms for missions ranging from low Earth orbit to deep space.

What you will do

• Define the architecture, design, tolerancing, analysis, testing, integration, and production approach for turbomachinery used in spacecraft active thermal control systems.
• Perform or lead rotor dynamics, bearing and seal, hydraulic, structural, and thermal-fluid analyses.
• Develop environmental qualification, ground-performance, and in-flight validation plans for mission-critical hardware.
• Partner with thermal, structures, avionics, software, satellite bus, and production teams to establish system requirements and operating concepts.
• Evaluate manufacturing equipment and specialty processes, including impeller machining, rotating-assembly balancing, and leak and flow testing.
• Develop production work instructions, in-process checkouts, and end-of-line tests while owning program deliverables and schedules.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related discipline.
• 8+ years of experience in mechanical and/or electromechanical design and analysis.
• 2+ years of experience designing and analyzing turbomachinery for harsh environments.
• Experience with CAD or FEA software packages.
• Must qualify as a U.S. person under ITAR or be eligible for a federally issued export control license.

Nice to have

• Experience designing, building, and testing centrifugal or axial pumps for closed-loop thermal systems.
• Experience with NASA-STD-5017, SMC-S-016, or GSFC-STD-7000.
• Experience with bearing analysis, preload methods, GD&T, structural analysis, and failure modes of complex space mechanisms.
• Experience owning moving mechanism assemblies across the full product lifecycle in a high-velocity environment.
• Strong written, oral, organizational, and cross-disciplinary communication skills.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on high-power spacecraft platforms serving commercial and U.S. government missions.
• Fast-paced environment at a high-growth, Series D-funded aerospace company.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Paid time off, paid parental leave, life insurance, and additional benefits.
• Company equity is included in the compensation package.