Senior Flight Safety Engineer (Spaceplane)

Location: Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand

Company

hirify.global develops sustainable space transportation technologies across in-space propulsion, in-space servicing, and reusable spaceplane systems.

What you will do

• Own the Part 450 flight safety analysis methodology, including trajectory modelling, malfunction flight modelling, failure probability analysis, debris modelling, population exposure analysis, and vulnerability modelling.
• Lead development, verification, and validation of the flight safety analysis tool to software qualification standards.
• Run flight safety analysis for each mission profile, determine flight hazard areas, prepare Part 102 certification application content, and support regulator engagement.
• Lead aircraft system safety activities, including Functional Hazard Assessments, Fault Tree Analysis, Common Cause Analysis, reliability analysis, and system-level safety requirements.
• Specify flight termination and abort system behaviour, including abort rules and required response times, and support system design and qualification.

Requirements

• Experience with flight safety analysis for launch or re-entry under Part 450, Parts 417/431, or comparable range safety work.
• Experience with quantitative risk, trajectory, or debris modelling and with verification and qualification of analysis software, methods, and models.
• Experience with Functional Hazard Assessment, Hazard Analysis, Fault Tree Analysis, or Common Cause Analysis.
• Experience with systems engineering for complex aerospace or other safety-critical systems.
• Experience in aircraft, spacecraft, launch vehicle, or advanced unmanned aircraft development.
• Ability to take ownership, work across disciplines, understand complex systems, make pragmatic engineering decisions, and communicate clearly.

Nice to have

• Experience with Range Commanders Council Standard 319 flight termination system requirements.
• Experience designing, building, or qualifying flight termination systems.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on a first-of-its-kind aerospace vehicle combining rocket performance with aircraft reusability.
• Own critical vehicle functions and solve technical challenges at the intersection of aviation and spaceflight.
• Work with an international team distributed across the Netherlands, France, New Zealand, and the USA.
• Inclusive environment where diverse backgrounds, identities, and experiences are valued and supported.