Mechanical Design Engineer

Location: Onsite in Torrance, California, in the Los Angeles area. The role supports in-person collaboration and work at a 322,000-square-foot R&D and production facility.

Salary: $90,000–$185,000 per year, plus equity.

Company

hirify.global is a Series C aerospace and clean-energy startup developing mass-producible, inherently safe nuclear microreactors for terrestrial, underwater, and space applications.

What you will do

• Own a subsystem and associated hardware within a space nuclear power system.
• Drive system-level layouts, requirements definition and decomposition, design iterations, build and test cycles, and design decisions through CDR and later phases.
• Create and maintain CAD models, configurations, drawings, DFMEA documentation, and manufacturing plans.
• Lead cross-disciplinary trade studies and coordinate with nuclear, thermal, structures, manufacturing, and quality teams.
• Develop clean-sheet designs through procurement, development testing, qualification testing, integration, and production.
• Support design reviews and integration planning while defining thermal and mechanical interfaces and work instructions.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related physics-based field.
• At least 3 years of experience in space-system or product mechanical design, system configuration, and layout.
• Expertise with CAD tools such as NX or CATIA, plus experience with PLM and manufacturing planning systems.
• Strong design, GD&T, drawings, system sizing, design-trade, and first-order engineering analysis skills.
• Ability to work long hours and weekends when necessary to support critical milestones.
• Willingness and ability to obtain and retain a security clearance; U.S. export regulations require U.S. citizenship, U.S. lawful permanent residence, refugee or asylee status, or eligibility to obtain the required authorizations.

Nice to have

• Master’s or PhD in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related physics-based field.
• Experience designing, analyzing, and integrating nuclear or space nuclear systems.
• Leadership experience on a project or research team.
• Knowledge of fluid systems, solid mechanics, materials science, and material selection for nuclear applications.
• Experience taking designs into production and making high-impact engineering contributions.

Culture & Benefits

• Significant stock option package in addition to the stated salary.
• Work in an integrated R&D and production facility alongside cross-disciplinary engineering teams.
• Values include systems thinking, end-user focus, unconventional problem solving, in-person collaboration, and operating effectively amid uncertainty.
• Opportunities to support projects for military services, NASA, and the Department of Energy.