Stage 1 Lead (Aerospace)

Location: On-site in Kent, Washington, United States. ITAR eligibility requires U.S. citizenship, U.S. lawful permanent residence, protected-individual status, or eligibility to obtain the required U.S. authorizations.

Salary: $216,000–$236,000 annually

Company

hirify.global is developing modular, scalable satellites and space-based solar energy infrastructure for orbital energy distribution, high-performance computing, and secure optical data transport.

What you will do

• Own the reusable Stage 1 program from architecture and design through flight, recovery, refurbishment, and reflight.
• Define stage architecture, requirements, subsystem interfaces, technical performance, mass margins, and risk management.
• Lead an integrated team across propulsion, structures, mechanical, fluids, avionics, GNC, software, and test engineering.
• Manage stage assembly, integration, qualification, and integrated test campaigns including cryogenic proof testing and static fire.
• Coordinate operating procedures, operational limits, verification plans, and real-time engineering decisions during test and launch operations.
• Drive design-for-reuse and stage upgrade plans covering recovery loads, inspections, life-limited parts, refurbishment, reliability, turnaround time, and production rate.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience designing, building, integrating, or testing launch vehicles, rocket stages, or similarly complex aerospace flight systems.
• Experience taking a major development program through a significant portion of its lifecycle, from concept and development through qualification, flight, or sustained operations.
• Experience leading and integrating technical contributors across propulsion, structures, mechanical, fluids, avionics, GNC, and software.
• Strong practical knowledge of systems engineering, requirements, interfaces, verification, risk, margins, structures and loads, fluid systems, thermodynamics, cryogenics, flight dynamics, and control systems.
• Experience with vehicle- or stage-level testing, test and flight data analysis, fabrication, assembly, and flight-hardware integration.
• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace or mechanical engineering, or equivalent experience.

Nice to have

• Experience as a responsible engineer, chief engineer, or technical lead for a launch vehicle stage or major flight system.
• Experience with reusable launch vehicles, recovery, inspection, refurbishment, and recertification of flown hardware.
• Experience with LNG, methane, or other cryogenic propellant systems and related ground support equipment.
• Familiarity with launch operations, range safety, flight termination systems, powered descent and landing analyses, CAD, and configuration management.

Culture & Benefits

• Equity in hirify.global Corp.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and eligible dependents.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan, paid time off, 10 paid holidays, and paid parental leave.
• Relocation assistance may be available.
• Daily office lunch and a stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks.