Senior Propulsion Engineer, Design (Combustion Devices)

Location: Hybrid work near Denver, CO or Long Beach, CA; some work must be performed onsite.

Base salary: $130,000–$210,000 per year, plus equity and benefits.

Company

hirify.global develops autonomous spacecraft, advanced payloads, mission software, and space-based interceptors for U.S. and allied space-security missions.

What you will do

• Own the design, analysis, optimization, and flight qualification of combustion chambers, injectors, regenerative cooling circuits, nozzles, and flow systems.
• Develop and validate regenerative cooling designs, including thermal margin and pressure-drop analysis across the operating envelope.
• Use NASA CEA and other combustion tools to predict performance and guide propellant, mixture-ratio, and nozzle-expansion decisions.
• Design and validate acoustic cavities and other passive features for combustion-instability suppression.
• Apply additive manufacturing with Inconel and other high-temperature superalloys to enable advanced propulsion geometries and reduce development cycles.
• Lead architecture trade studies, supplier collaboration, hardware reviews, build campaigns, integration, testing, and continuous design improvement.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering.
• 8+ years of professional experience in liquid rocket engine or thruster development.
• Hands-on experience designing injectors, combustion chambers, regenerative nozzles, valves, and nozzle extensions.
• Experience with regenerative cooling, NASA CEA or equivalent tools, combustion instability, acoustic suppression, high-temperature superalloys, and additive manufacturing.
• CAD proficiency and engineering drawing generation to GD&T standards, plus experience in aerospace build, integration, and test environments.
• Must be a U.S. citizen and eligible for DoD Secret or TS/SCI clearance or required ITAR authorizations.

Nice to have

• Master’s degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering.
• Experience taking thruster or engine components through hot-fire, cold-flow, leak, checkout, and qualification campaigns.
• Experience leading and mentoring propulsion engineers.
• Experience with the full vehicle lifecycle and in startup or resource-constrained environments.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid work environment with onsite propulsion development activities.
• Health, dental, vision, HRA/HSA options, PTO, and paid holidays.
• 401(k), parental leave, and equity participation.
• Opportunity to develop next-generation in-space propulsion systems and on-orbit capabilities.