Materials Characterization Specialist II (Aerospace)

Location: Long Beach, California, United States

Salary: $38.40–$57.60 USD per hour

Company

hirify.global develops rockets and the Terran R launch vehicle for commercial payload delivery, science, exploration, and innovation.

What you will do

• Own and operate chemistry and powder characterization test areas, including inert gas fusion, spark OES, XRF, and particle size and shape analysis.
• Prepare samples, perform testing, report results, and author and validate standard-referenced methods and work instructions.
• Characterize metal powders for additive manufacturing, including particle size distribution, flow behavior, morphology, oxygen pickup, and virgin-versus-reused comparisons.
• Manage the chemistry and powder request queue, set commit dates, escalate schedule risks, and cross-cover thermal analysis activities.
• Train Specialist I staff and interns and advise engineers on test selection, purpose, limitations, and interpretation.

Requirements

• AS or BS in Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Materials Science, Metallurgy, or a related field, or equivalent hands-on experience.
• 2–5 years of hands-on laboratory test operations or materials characterization experience.
• Demonstrated analytical chemistry experience in elemental or compositional analysis.
• Experience writing or validating test methods, work instructions, or SOPs against consensus standards such as ASTM.
• Ability to own a testing technique or area, interpret data, troubleshoot methods and equipment, and identify unreliable results.
• Work is based in Long Beach, California, United States.

Nice to have

• Experience with IGF or combustion gas analysis, LECO, Bruker, Eltra, spark OES, calibration, or analyzer commissioning.
• Metal powder characterization for additive manufacturing, XRF, thermal analysis, metallography, or SEM sample preparation.
• Familiarity with ICP-OES, ICP-MS, combustion carbon and sulfur analysis, wet chemistry, gravimetric methods, or contamination analysis.
• Aerospace or defense laboratory experience and familiarity with AS9100 or ISO 17025 method validation.

Culture & Benefits

• Work in a cross-functional Materials and NDE organization supporting rocket design, manufacturing, operations, and reuse.
• Competitive salary and equity compensation.
• Generous paid time off and sick leave.
• Parental leave and an annual learning and development stipend.
• Autonomy, ownership, technical rigor, and opportunities to solve complex aerospace problems.