Director of Structures and Mechanisms (Aerospace)

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

Salary: $260,000–$290,000 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, responsive logistics, and global delivery.

What you will do

• Build, grow, and lead the Structures & Mechanisms organization across primary structures, mechanisms, thermal protection systems, and analysis.
• Own the structural architecture of the CarryAll vehicle, including primary and secondary structures, deployable heatshield interfaces, deployable mechanisms, and the payload bay.
• Establish analysis, margin, and verification standards covering hand calculations, FEA, stiffness, buckling, fatigue, and thermal expansion compatibility.
• Own mechanical drawing release quality and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing standards under ASME Y14.5.
• Lead structural qualification and environmental testing, including static load, random vibration, shock, deployment, and flight-certification testing.
• Represent structural engineering in executive, customer, and government reviews while supporting suppliers, make-versus-buy decisions, and production readiness.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Mechanical, Aerospace, or Structural Engineering.
• 10+ years designing and analyzing complex aerospace structures and mechanisms, including 3+ years in management or technical leadership of multidisciplinary teams.
• Proven experience leading structures for space vehicles or rockets and taking primary structures from concept through PDR, CDR, and flight.
• Experience hiring, scaling, and mentoring teams of 5+ engineers, including setting OKRs, conducting performance reviews, and managing costs.
• Expertise with Siemens NX, SolidWorks, or similar parametric modeling software, plus structural FEA and classical hand calculations.
• Working knowledge of aerospace materials, CNC machining, sheet metal, welding, and design for manufacturing.

Nice to have

• Active U.S. Government Security Clearance.
• Experience with deployable space structures and mechanisms such as booms, solar arrays, antennas, or aerobrakes.
• Experience with high-heat environments, thermal protection systems, NASA-STD-5000 standards, or SMC-S-016.
• Previous experience as a Director, Chief Engineer, or department head in launch, reentry, satellite, or hypersonics programs.

Culture & Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage, with base-tier medical insurance and fully covered vision and dental premiums.
• Short- and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, and a 401(k) with company match.
• Paid time off and 9 paid holidays.
• Equity participation and annual performance-based bonuses.
• Daily lunch stipend, unlimited snacks, coffee, and tea, plus a pet-friendly office and monthly company events.