Design Engineer (Aerospace and Defense Hardware)

Location: Full-time onsite presence in Hawthorne, Los Angeles, California, five days a week, with very limited exceptions.

Salary: $120,000–$150,000 per year, dependent on academic level and demonstrated experience, plus stock options.

Company

hirify.global builds AI-native manufacturing systems that integrate software, hardware, and physics to produce industrial-scale parts through advanced manufacturing.

What you will do

• Design and redesign aerospace and defense parts for propulsion, thermal management, fluid systems, turbomachinery, combustion, and lightweight structures.
• Analyze component requirements, performance drivers, system constraints, materials, tolerances, thermal behavior, structural behavior, and production considerations.
• Reimagine hardware from first principles using additive manufacturing to enable new geometries, consolidated assemblies, improved performance, and reduced cost or lead time.
• Evaluate design tradeoffs, process capabilities, qualification pathways, and production scalability.
• Collaborate with internal engineering and operations teams and engage directly with customer engineering teams on requirements and design solutions.
• Identify new application areas and provide field-informed feedback for the product, process, and technology roadmap.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering.
• 3+ years of hands-on engineering experience in aerospace, defense, or a closely related high-performance industry.
• Experience designing or analyzing propulsion systems, thermal systems, fluid systems, turbomachinery, or high-performance structural components.
• Systems-level understanding of complex mechanical hardware and component integration within larger assemblies.
• Strong understanding of part design, materials, tolerances, performance tradeoffs, and manufacturability.
• Ability to work onsite full-time in Hawthorne, Los Angeles, five days per week.

Nice to have

• Familiarity with metal 3D printing and design for additive manufacturing.
• Experience taking hardware through development, qualification, and production ramp.
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to engineering and non-engineering stakeholders.
• Strong first-principles reasoning and comfort working in ambiguous, fast-moving environments.
• Strategic thinking, adaptability, accountability, and an entrepreneurial, results-oriented approach.

Culture & Benefits

• Inclusive, diverse culture focused on collaboration, learning, and data-driven decisions.
• Significant stock option package and employer-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Life insurance, traditional and Roth 401(k), paid vacation, sick leave, company holidays, and paid parental leave.
• Relocation assistance, catered daily meals, stocked kitchenette, flexible work hours, and regular team-building events.
• Opportunity to join a rapidly growing company as an early contributor to its manufacturing technology.