Senior Mechanical Test and Design Engineer, Automation (Aerospace)

Location: On-site in El Segundo, California, United States. Candidates must be authorized to work in the U.S. and meet the company's U.S. person requirements for access to export-controlled technology.

Salary: $140,333–$179,314 per year, plus potential stock options and/or long-term cash awards.

Company

hirify.global develops commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing systems, reentry capsules, heat shields, satellite buses, and related production and test equipment.

What you will do

• Design, build, maintain, and commission ground support equipment and test systems for spacecraft hardware qualification and manufacturing.
• Develop data acquisition systems, propulsion test stands, fill carts, thermal control systems, PLC cabinets, and gas and liquid systems.
• Integrate mechanical, electrical, fluid, instrumentation, and industrial control systems into reliable test platforms targeting more than 99% uptime.
• Own test infrastructure end-to-end, including electrical design, cabinet wiring, panel assembly, commissioning, documentation, and ongoing support.
• Partner with propulsion, avionics, GNC, and manufacturing teams to deliver infrastructure on aggressive timelines.
• Deploy and make minor edits to the internal PLC framework and Beckhoff EtherCAT tooling while improving maintainability and onboarding documentation.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related technical field and 5+ years of industry experience in mechanical design or industrial automation.
• Extensive experience with SolidWorks, NX CAD, or comparable tools; electrical wiring for cabinets, PLCs, harnesses, and connectors; and Altium or comparable schematic design software.
• Hands-on experience with high-pressure gas or fluid systems, environmental testing, TVAC, thermal cycling, and vibration testing.
• Experience developing propulsion test stands or other complex, multi-subsystem test infrastructure.
• Experience integrating industrial hardware using EtherCAT, Modbus, RS-232/485, or similar protocols, plus experience with a modern PLC ecosystem such as Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 and structured text.
• Must work on-site in El Segundo and be authorized to work in the United States as a qualifying U.S. person for export-controlled technology access.

Nice to have

• Aerospace experience, especially spacecraft testing or ground support equipment development.
• Familiarity with spacecraft qualification standards and related documentation requirements.
• Experience with safety-related control systems and risk-reduction solutions.
• Programming experience in low-level firmware or Python.

Culture & Benefits

• Fast-paced startup environment with shifting priorities and end-to-end ownership.
• Flexible PTO, 12 paid holidays, and 12 weeks of parental leave.
• Company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance, with FSA and employer-matched HSA options.
• 401(k) plan with a 6% employer match, incentive equity, wellness reimbursement, and relocation support if needed.
• Daily lunch, dinner twice weekly, team events, and complimentary EV charging.