Chief Engineer (Aerospace)

Location: San Francisco; in-office five days a week

Salary: $220K–$300K annually

Company

hirify.global is a vertically integrated aerospace company developing supersonic transport and adaptable high-speed aircraft systems for commercial and U.S. government applications.

What you will do

• Lead aircraft development across propulsion, aerostructures, avionics, flight controls, thermal management, and systems integration.
• Act as the final engineering authority, maintaining configuration control and technical baseline integrity.
• Translate defense customer and mission requirements into traceable engineering specifications.
• Identify technical risks, lead root-cause investigations, and drive corrective actions for critical design and test issues.
• Coordinate engineering, manufacturing, quality, flight test, and program management teams around a unified technical plan.
• Guide analysis, ground testing, flight testing, certification, and airworthiness activities while mentoring the engineering organization.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field; a Master’s or PhD is preferred.
• 10+ years of aircraft design and development experience, including significant flight-vehicle experience.
• Experience supporting defense or military aerospace programs and familiarity with defense acquisition processes.
• Experience owning technical, schedule, and cost outcomes on complex aerospace programs.
• Strong knowledge of aircraft systems integration, including propulsion, structures, aerodynamics, and avionics.
• U.S. citizenship and Secret Clearance are required; Top Secret Clearance is desired.

Nice to have

• Experience with tactical mission systems integration and related architectures.
• Familiarity with MIL-STD and DoD airworthiness certification processes.
• Experience leading engineering teams through prototype or pre-production development.
• Master’s degree or PhD in a relevant engineering discipline.

Culture & Benefits

• In-office work five days per week is considered essential for collaboration and company culture.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, including Flexible Spending Accounts.
• 401(k) program and stock option plan.
• Self-managed flexible time off, including PTO, paid holidays, and sick time.
• Flat, pragmatic engineering culture focused on technical excellence and accountability.