Chief Engineer, Space Payloads (Aerospace)

Location: Tucson, Arizona, United States. The role involves working in classified environments and may require travel up to 25%.

Company

hirify.global is an end-to-end space company developing rockets, spacecraft, payloads, and critical spaceflight subsystems for commercial, civil, and national security missions.

What you will do

• Own the technical baseline across systems engineering, hardware, software, and test.
• Lead program gate reviews from System Requirements Review through Test Readiness Review.
• Direct architectures spanning space payloads, ground systems, and mission operations.
• Oversee engineering execution, subcontractors, cost, schedule, technical performance, and risk management.
• Advance Model-Based Systems Engineering, Digital Engineering, quality standards, and technical processes.
• Serve as the primary technical interface for government customers, subcontractors, and organizational leadership while mentoring multidisciplinary engineers.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical discipline and 12+ years of professional experience.
• Active Secret or Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility is required.
• Experience delivering complex aerospace or defense systems to cost, schedule, and performance requirements.
• Previous experience as a chief engineer or technical authority for a program of record or major defense contract.
• Experience leading large-scale proposals, technical volumes, customer-facing reviews, and senior government relationships.
• For U.S. office work, candidates must meet applicable ITAR requirements, including U.S. citizenship, lawful permanent residence, qualifying refugee or asylum status, or eligibility for required government authorizations.

Nice to have

• Master’s degree or PhD in a technical discipline.
• Space mission and payload integration experience.
• Experience with electro-optical, infrared, radar, or hyperspectral sensors, including performance modeling and exploitation.
• Experience with command and control, mission planning, tactical ground systems, CONOPS, or enterprise-scale architectures.
• Knowledge of data exploitation, machine learning, Automatic Target Recognition, MBSE, or large-scale aerospace and defense system integration.

Culture & Benefits

• Mission-driven work focused on expanding access to space and supporting national security capabilities.
• Fast-paced environment with tight deadlines, high technical standards, and cross-functional teamwork.
• Work includes classified program information and may involve occasional exposure to noise, dust, and fumes in production areas.
• Equal employment opportunity and reasonable accommodation support are provided for U.S. applicants.