Chief Engineer, Vehicle (Aerospace)

Location: Playa Vista, California; in-person five days per week

Salary: $275,000–$325,000 per year, plus performance-based bonuses and equity.

Company

hirify.global is an orbital logistics company developing reusable Earth-return vehicles for in-space manufacturing, on-orbit warehousing, global delivery, defense logistics, commercial cargo, and research missions.

What you will do

• Own the schedule, technical performance, budget, scope, risk, and make-or-buy decisions for the CarryAll and Airdrop vehicle programs.
• Lead, hire, develop, and manage multidisciplinary engineering leaders across all vehicle disciplines.
• Own vehicle architecture, interface control, performance envelopes, design standards, margin policy, and flight-readiness criteria.
• Chair PDR, CDR, TRR, and CoFR reviews and oversee testing, the Material Review Board, and failure reporting, analysis, and corrective action.
• Establish design-for-manufacturing, quality management, configuration management, and acceptance processes for LRIP and fleet-scale production.
• Define supplier and make-or-buy strategy across propulsion, avionics, thermal protection, and recovery subsystems while representing vehicle engineering to executives, customers, and government stakeholders.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, or Systems Engineering.
• 12+ years of experience spanning the full life cycle of space vehicle or spacecraft development.
• Operational technical authority over a complete vehicle program from architecture through flight and anomaly resolution.
• Experience building and scaling multidisciplinary engineering organizations of 50+ people through Director and Principal individual-contributor levels.
• System-level expertise across mass, power, guidance, navigation and control, structural loads, and thermal environments.
• Experience bridging R&D and manufacturing, including design for manufacturing, travelers, and acceptance criteria.

Nice to have

• Active U.S. Government Security Clearance; not required but beneficial.
• Experience with reentry vehicles, hypersonics, precision aerial delivery, or autonomous recovery systems.
• Familiarity with FAR/DFARS, OTA, or NASA safety and mission assurance.
• Experience in venture-backed or rapid-growth aerospace companies.

Culture & Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage, with the base medical tier and all vision and dental premiums covered.
• Short- and long-term disability coverage and life insurance.
• Paid time off, nine paid holidays, and a 401(k) with company match.
• Daily lunch stipend, unlimited snacks, coffee, and tea.
• Equity participation, a pet-friendly office, and regular company events and happy hours.