Senior Terrestrial Automation & Controls Engineer (Aerospace)

Location: On-site in El Segundo, California, United States

Salary: $140,333–$179,314 per year for the Senior level; stock options and/or long-term cash awards may also be available.

Company

hirify.global develops commercial space infrastructure, including in-orbit pharmaceutical processing payloads, reentry capsules, heat shields, satellite buses, vehicles, equipment, and materials.

What you will do

• Design, build, maintain, and commission test systems and ground support equipment for flight hardware qualification and manufacturing operations.
• Integrate thermal vacuum chambers, ovens, chillers, pressure systems, data acquisition hardware, and precision instrumentation.
• Develop Varda’s internal PLC framework and EtherCAT tooling.
• Contribute to real-time control architecture decisions, including PLC-based TwinCAT 3 and Linux-based approaches for high-frequency applications.
• Design electrical systems, build cabinets, wire panels, debug hardware, and own systems from electrical design through commissioning.
• Partner with propulsion, avionics, GNC, and manufacturing teams while establishing maintainable engineering practices for production systems.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related technical field.
• 5+ years of industry experience in test automation, controls, and/or industrial automation.
• Hands-on experience integrating industrial hardware through EtherCAT, Modbus TCP/RTU, RS-232/485 serial, or similar protocols.
• Experience with at least one modern PLC ecosystem, ideally Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 with structured text under IEC 61131-3, or demonstrated eagerness to develop deep expertise in it.
• Ability to work across the full stack, including electrical panel design, cabinet wiring, hardware debugging, and control software.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced startup environment with shifting priorities and expected end-to-end ownership.
• Must work on-site in El Segundo, California, and be lawfully authorized to work in the United States.
• Only U.S. persons may be hired because the role provides access to export-controlled technology.

Nice to have

• Experience balancing real-time PLC code with higher-level Python orchestration.
• Experience with custom or in-house control frameworks and advanced EtherCAT work, including DC sync, ENI configuration, master implementation, or driver-level development.
• Production experience with TwinCAT 3, structured text, IEC 61131-3, and deterministic hard real-time control loops with sub-millisecond cycle times.
• Experience with time-series data acquisition and visualization tools such as Grafana or InfluxDB.
• Aerospace, spacecraft testing, ground support equipment, environmental testing, propulsion test stands, high-pressure gas or fluid systems, or complex multi-subsystem test infrastructure experience.
• Familiarity with spacecraft qualification standards, documentation requirements, and safety-related control systems.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on in-house spacecraft vehicles, pharmaceutical processing payloads, capsules, heat shields, satellite buses, equipment, and materials.
• Collaborate with propulsion, avionics, GNC, and manufacturing functions.
• Receive incentives through stock options and/or long-term cash awards.
• Work in an inclusive equal-opportunity environment where evaluation is based on merit, qualifications, and performance.