Spacecraft Operations Engineer II/Senior

Location: Onsite at hirify.global headquarters in Long Beach, California, United States

Base salary: $86,000–$125,000 USD per year, with level and pay determined by knowledge, skills, education, and experience.

Company

hirify.global is an end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, payloads, and critical subsystems for commercial, exploration, national security, and defense missions.

What you will do

• Operate and monitor the health, safety, and performance of satellite missions across commissioning, orbit raising, routine operations, and potential re-entry.
• Design, develop, and test ground software, operational scripts, flight software sequences, FDIR, and telemetry configurations.
• Maintain continuous integration and testing for operational code, including validation with flatsat and hardware-in-the-loop simulation tools.
• Develop test methods, analyze mission data, and perform requirements validation and verification for spacecraft and subsystems.
• Create and maintain interface specifications, CONOPS, design documents, and spacecraft mission requirements.
• Support AIT teams during integrated spacecraft testing and provide technical coordination between Auckland and Long Beach engineering teams.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in software, computer, electrical, aerospace, mechanical, or another technical engineering discipline.
• For Engineer II: 2+ years of direct experience in space mission design, satellite subsystems, ground systems, spacecraft command and control, or spacecraft operations.
• For Senior Engineer I: 5+ years of direct experience in the same space mission, satellite, ground systems, or spacecraft operations areas.
• Knowledge of spacecraft subsystems, including attitude determination and control, electrical power, space-ground communications, command and data handling, and thermal control.
• Understanding of the space environment, orbital mechanics, rigid body dynamics, and software development using Python, Ruby, C, C++, or another high-level language.
• Active U.S. Government security clearance with TS eligibility and eligibility to meet U.S. ITAR access requirements.

Nice to have

• Master’s or PhD in an engineering discipline.
• Experience in spacecraft operations, satellite system design, or satellite ground systems.
• Exposure to Git, CI/CD, cloud infrastructure, software-in-the-loop testing, or hardware-in-the-loop testing.
• Active TS/SCI U.S. Government security clearance.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on vertically integrated spacecraft and components supporting commercial, exploration, and national security missions.
• Medical HMO, PPO, and company-sponsored HSA options, plus dental and vision coverage.
• Three weeks of paid vacation, five sick days, paid holidays, parental leave, disability insurance, and life insurance.
• 401(k) retirement plan with company match, employee stock purchase discounts, and company equity opportunities.
• Onsite gym, subsidized EV charging, food and drinks, and additional employee discounts.