Principal Software Engineer, Spacecraft Simulation (Aerospace)

Location: Fully onsite in Denver, CO or Long Beach, CA; candidates must be based in or able to commute to the selected office daily.

Base salary: $210,000–$325,000 per year, plus equity and benefits.

Company

hirify.global develops autonomous spacecraft, advanced payloads, mission software, and space-based interceptors for U.S. and allied space security missions.

What you will do

• Own the long-term technical strategy and architecture for simulation infrastructure spanning multi-physics, real-time, faster-than-real-time, and HIL/SIL environments.
• Lead production-quality spacecraft simulation software covering rigid-body dynamics, thermal systems, attitude control, propulsion, power, sensors, and actuators.
• Design coupled physics algorithms, time-stepping methods, solver architectures, and integration schemes for scalable simulation.
• Define versioned, performant, backward-compatible C++ and Python APIs and enable adoption through documentation and reference examples.
• Set engineering standards, verification and validation practices, and technical direction across the simulation organization.
• Mentor engineers, conduct reviews, guide architecture decisions, and represent simulation engineering in cross-functional and customer-facing forums.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, physics, applied mathematics, or equivalent experience; an advanced degree is preferred.
• 10+ years of professional software development focused on simulation, scientific computing, or aerospace applications, with progression into technical leadership.
• Expert modern C++ proficiency, including C++17 or newer, STL, templates, performance optimization, and large-scale system design.
• Proficiency in Python API design, scripting, automation, and data analysis.
• Experience setting technical direction for complex software systems and driving multi-team delivery.
• Deep expertise in at least two of ADCS, GNC, thermal control, electric power systems, chemical or electric propulsion, orbital mechanics, and HIL/SIL systems.
• Experience defining and executing verification and validation frameworks for physics-based models at scale, including uncertainty quantification and validation against test or flight data.
• Strong systems thinking and exceptional written and verbal communication for technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, protected individual, or eligible to obtain required U.S. Department of State authorizations under ITAR.

Nice to have

• Hypersonic aerothermal, aerodynamic, and flight-dynamics modeling, including coupled aero-thermal-structural effects, shock-layer physics, and boundary-layer modeling.
• Validated production-grade aerospace or defense simulation and advanced physics-based modeling and simulation.
• Expertise in ODE/DAE solvers, numerical linear algebra, sparse matrices, automatic differentiation, and stiff, multi-rate, or real-time-constrained problems.
• Astrodynamics and kinematics experience.
• Git, CI/CD, CMake or Bazel, testing frameworks, parallel or distributed computing, Docker, and cloud platforms.
• HIL/SIL environments with real-time interfaces to flight software or embedded hardware.
• Published work, conference presentations, or patents in simulation, astrodynamics, GNC, or related fields.

Culture & Benefits

• Fully onsite engineering environment with daily office attendance.
• Company-paid medical, dental, and vision coverage, with HSA/HRA options.
• Flexible Time Off for exempt employees, up to 25 accrued PTO days for non-exempt employees, 12 paid holidays, parental leave, and sick leave.
• 401(k), fitness reimbursement, catered lunch and snacks for in-office employees, and equity participation.
• Commitment to engineering excellence, mentorship, collaboration, and equal employment opportunity.

Hiring process

• The position remains open until successfully filled; submit an application through the provided directions.
• Do not apply to fixed-term or temporary roles.
• Applicant identity verification and fraud detection tools are used during the application process.