Principal Manufacturing Engineer (Thermal Protection Systems)

Location: On-site in El Segundo, California, United States. Employees must be lawfully authorized to work in the United States and qualify as a U.S. person for access to export-controlled technology.

Salary: $181,913–$262,763 per year, plus potential stock options and/or long-term cash awards.

Company

hirify.global develops commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing, reentry capsules, C-PICA heat shields, and satellite buses. Vehicles, equipment, materials, and production systems are built, integrated, and tested in-house.

What you will do

• Own manufacturing processes for ablative tile and panel preparation, bonding, densification, and closeout operations.
• Develop and maintain work instructions, process travelers, and specifications for TPS fabrication and installation.
• Implement surface preparation, adhesive application, and cure-cycle procedures meeting bond-strength and thermal-performance requirements.
• Collaborate with TPS design engineers on DFM feedback, tile geometry, bond-joint design, tooling access, and installation.
• Define inspection methods and production quality gates for bonds, surface finish, and dimensional conformance.
• Lead root-cause analysis and corrective actions for bond voids, tile cracking, surface contamination, and other TPS non-conformances; control environmental conditions and procure TPS-specific tooling.

Requirements

• B.S. in Materials Science, Mechanical, Aerospace, Chemical, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related discipline, with equivalent professional experience considered; typically 6–10+ years.
• 6+ years of manufacturing experience with thermal protection systems, composite materials, or advanced material bonding in aerospace or defense.
• Hands-on experience with ablative or reusable TPS materials, including PICA, AVCOAT, SLA-561, cork composites, ceramic tiles, or equivalent.
• Experience with adhesive bonding, surface preparation, and cure-cycle control for structural or TPS bonds.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings and TPS assembly models, with familiarity with GD&T for complex surface geometries.
• Experience writing and maintaining manufacturing process documentation for specialized materials operations.
• Physical ability to regularly lift 25 lbs., bend, stoop, and stand for extended periods while working directly with hardware.
• U.S. work authorization and U.S. person status are required for access to export-controlled technology.

Nice to have

• Direct TPS manufacturing experience for reentry vehicles, hypersonic glide vehicles, or planetary entry capsules.
• Familiarity with TPS inspection methods, including visual inspection, tap testing, and applicable NDE methods.
• Knowledge of TPS material properties such as ablation rates, density gradients, and outgassing behavior.
• Experience with environmental controls and material handling for moisture-sensitive TPS materials.
• Experience transitioning TPS manufacturing from bespoke development builds to repeatable, documented production.
• Experience with robotic or semi-automated TPS tile application processes.
• Familiarity with reentry thermal analysis and translating TPS design margins into manufacturing quality requirements.
• Prior work at a company with demonstrated reentry or hypersonic vehicle flight heritage.

Culture & Benefits

• On-site work at the El Segundo production facility.
• Opportunity to own a specialized manufacturing domain for reentry thermal protection systems.
• Eligibility for stock options and/or long-term cash awards.
• Inclusive equal-opportunity workplace with evaluation based on merit, qualifications, and performance.