Terrestrial Automation & Controls Engineer II (Aerospace)

Location: On-site in El Segundo, California, United States

Salary: $119,543–$152,749 per year, plus potential stock options and/or long-term cash awards.

Company

hirify.global develops in-space manufacturing infrastructure, pharmaceutical processing payloads, reentry capsules, heat shields, and satellite buses.

What you will do

• Design, build, maintain, and commission test systems and ground support equipment for flight hardware qualification and manufacturing.
• Integrate thermal vacuum chambers, ovens, chillers, pressure systems, data acquisition hardware, and precision instrumentation.
• Develop Varda’s internal PLC framework and Beckhoff EtherCAT tooling.
• Evaluate PLC-based TwinCAT 3 and Linux-based approaches for high-frequency real-time control.
• Design electrical panels, wire cabinets, debug hardware, and own systems from electrical design through commissioning.
• Partner with propulsion, avionics, GNC, and manufacturing teams while establishing maintainable engineering practices.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related technical field.
• At least 2 years of industry experience in test automation, controls, and/or industrial automation.
• Experience integrating industrial hardware through EtherCAT, Modbus TCP/RTU, RS-232/485, or similar protocols.
• Experience with a modern PLC ecosystem, ideally Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 and IEC 61131-3 structured text.
• Ability to design electrical panels, wire cabinets, debug hardware, and write control software.
• Must work on-site in El Segundo and be a U.S. person authorized to access export-controlled technology.

Nice to have

• Advanced EtherCAT, TwinCAT 3, deterministic hard real-time control, or custom control framework experience.
• Python orchestration, time-series data acquisition, Grafana, or InfluxDB experience.
• Aerospace, spacecraft testing, GSE, environmental testing, propulsion test stand, or high-pressure fluid-system experience.
• Experience with safety-related control systems, qualification standards, and technical documentation.

Culture & Benefits

• Fast-paced startup environment with shifting priorities and end-to-end ownership.
• Opportunity to influence system architecture and define engineering standards.
• Work alongside propulsion, avionics, GNC, manufacturing, and other multidisciplinary teams.
• Potential eligibility for stock options and/or long-term cash awards.
• Equal-opportunity workplace with employment decisions based on merit, qualifications, and performance.