Staff Engineer, Propulsion

Location: On-site in Dallas, Texas; San Diego, California; or Washington, D.C. U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain a security clearance required.

Salary: $146,000–$219,000 per year, plus bonus, benefits, and equity for full-time regular employees.

Company

hirify.global is a venture-backed defense-tech company developing intelligent systems, including autonomous aircraft, autonomy software, and simulation technologies.

What you will do

• Serve as the Responsible Engineer for propulsion hardware and capabilities from requirements and architecture through procurement, integration, build, testing, flight, and operational deployment.
• Own engine performance and vehicle integration activities, including interfaces, operability, transient behavior, performance margins, and vehicle-level impacts.
• Lead technical design reviews, supplier engagements, hardware procurement, and propulsion test activities.
• Plan instrumentation, procedures, data acquisition, performance validation, and test-to-flight readiness.
• Analyze ground and flight data, investigate failures and anomalies, and drive corrective design, control, and operational improvements.
• Collaborate hands-on with design, controls, fluids, airframe, manufacturing, supply chain, test, and flight teams; mentor less experienced engineers and technicians.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• 7+ years of experience in aerospace propulsion development, integration, testing, or flight operations, with ownership of complex aerospace hardware.
• Strong understanding of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, compressible flow, and gas turbine engine performance, including thrust generation, fuel consumption, operability, and transient response.
• Hands-on experience with propulsion hardware integration, instrumentation, testing, flight support, and technical failure investigations.
• Strong proficiency in Python or similar tools for engineering analysis, data reduction, and model correlation.
• Ability to independently drive ambiguous technical problems to measurable results in a fast-paced development environment.
• U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain a security clearance.

Nice to have

• Experience with fighter-class, low-bypass turbofan, afterburning, or other high-performance gas turbine engines.
• Experience working with engine OEMs or aerospace suppliers through procurement, development, qualification, and integration.
• Experience with engine controls, performance tuning, transient validation, or propulsion and flight-control integration.
• Familiarity with GFSSP, REFPROP, ANSYS, FEA, CFD, Siemens NX, or Teamcenter.
• Rocket propulsion experience transferable to high-performance propulsion design, integration, analysis, or testing.
• M.S. or Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.

Culture & Benefits

• On-site work in Dallas, San Diego, or Washington, D.C.
• Full-time regular employee package includes salary within the listed range, bonus, benefits, and equity.
• Employment offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check.
• Equal opportunity workplace and affirmative action employer.