Sr. Mission Operations Engineer (Lunar Rovers)

Location: Hawthorne, California; onsite

Salary: $174,000–$196,000 per year

Company

hirify.global designs, builds, and operates multi-purpose commercial planetary rovers to support exploration and operations on distant planetary bodies.

What you will do

• Lead the development of mission concepts of operations, operational strategies, timelines, command plans, and decision-support products for lunar rover missions.
• Define surface exploration strategies for science activities, resource utilization, permanently shadowed regions, polar operations, extended-duration missions, and contingency scenarios.
• Establish operational requirements and provide operational input throughout vehicle design and development.
• Serve in senior mission-control positions during simulations and flight operations, monitoring telemetry and engineering data.
• Coordinate anomaly response, recovery efforts, mission decision-making, operational risk assessments, and daily planning cycles.
• Lead mission simulations, operational exercises, crew and operator training, readiness reviews, acceptance testing, and verification activities.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM-related field or four years of equivalent work experience.
• At least eight years of professional experience in aerospace mission operations, spacecraft operations, robotics operations, or a related technical field.
• Experience supporting flight missions, mission control centers, or other complex operational systems.
• Experience developing operational procedures, mission timelines, technical documentation, and operational products.
• Ability to work in mission-critical, fast-paced environments and collaborate across flight software, systems engineering, vehicle development, communications, science, and mission operations.

Nice to have

• Experience with lunar or planetary surface operations, robotic missions, autonomous vehicles, NASA programs, commercial space, or international space exploration.
• Knowledge of spacecraft subsystems including power, thermal, command and data handling, communications, guidance, navigation and control, and flight software.
• Experience with delay-tolerant operations, autonomous mission execution, mission planning, mission analysis, or flight operations software.
• Familiarity with NASA, DoD, NOAA, commercial spaceflight, or international space operations standards.
• Experience applying systems engineering principles to technical or operational issues.

Culture & Benefits

• Equity ownership in the company.
• Medical, dental, vision, and mental health benefits.
• 401(k) plan with company match.
• Flexible paid time off and parental leave.
• Home office setup reimbursement, weekly lunch stipend, and complimentary snacks and beverages onsite.
• Monthly onsite social hour.

Hiring process

• Application review followed by a recruiter phone interview.
• Video interviews.
• Onsite interview followed by an offer and hiring decision.