Principal IT Engineer (Aerospace)

TL;DR

Principal IT Engineer (Aerospace): Serve as the highest-level technical authority for core IT systems, platforms and infrastructure, setting long-term technical direction aligned with business priorities with an accent on scalability, security and operational excellence. Focus on architecting complex large-scale IT environments, leading high-risk initiatives like migrations and incident remediation, and driving automation and reliability engineering practices.

Los Angeles, CA. U.S. Person required (ITAR export control regulations)

Base salary range $155,000 – $185,000 plus equity

Company

hirify.global is building the largest and highest-power satellites for missions from LEO to deep space, backed by major investors and with launches planned through 2026-2027.

What you will do

• Architect, design and govern complex, large-scale IT environments across on-premises, cloud, hybrid and SaaS ecosystems
• Own enterprise-level technical standards, reference architectures and design patterns
• Lead complex high-risk initiatives including major migrations, platform transitions and incident remediation
• Act as escalation point for critical production issues with deep root-cause analyses
• Drive operational excellence through automation, reliability engineering, capacity planning and performance optimization
• Partner with security, compliance and SRE teams; influence executives and mentor engineers

Requirements

• 8+ years in IT support and systems maintenance, preferably in fast-paced startup or aerospace
• Proven expertise in designing/operating large-scale, highly available and secure enterprise IT environments
• Deep knowledge of operating systems, networking, security best practices, system performance monitoring
• Experience with automation, infrastructure as code, config management and reliability engineering
• Demonstrated ability to lead technically without authority and resolve complex problems
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science/engineering; U.S. Person per ITAR (citizen, permanent resident or protected individual)

Nice to Have

• Technical certifications (Network+, MCSE, Security+)
• Experience with mission-critical and sensitive systems

Culture & Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits: paid time off, medical/dental/vision, life insurance, paid parental leave
• Equity in the company
• Fast-paced startup environment focused on innovation in space technology
• Encourages non-traditional career paths and motivated individuals