Engineering Manager, Propulsion Development and Test (Aerospace)

Location: Primarily onsite at the GravityWorks factory in Centennial, Colorado, with regular travel of up to 20% to the Long Beach, California factory and vendor/test sites. U.S. citizenship or another qualifying U.S. ITAR status is required.

Salary: $140,000–$250,000 base salary annually, plus equity and benefits.

Company

hirify.global develops autonomous spacecraft, advanced payloads, mission software, and space-based interceptors for space superiority and defense.

What you will do

• Lead, hire, and develop a team of propulsion development engineers responsible for requirements, design, analysis, testing, and prototype hardware delivery.
• Build and execute component- and system-level propulsion test roadmaps, including hot-fire, cold-flow, and pressure testing.
• Integrate test planning with facility and ground-support-equipment capability plans while managing schedules, budgets, risks, and competing workstreams.
• Review and approve P&IDs, fabrication drawings, material selections, vendor proposals, and infrastructure trade studies.
• Oversee procurement, fabrication, installation, commissioning, and resolution of nonconformances and design anomalies.
• Coordinate with civil, mechanical, electrical, safety, vendor, and external stakeholder teams to resolve technical and facility issues.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Chemical Engineering.
• 10+ years of professional experience in propulsion and fluid systems engineering for aerospace, launch vehicle, or defense applications, including at least 3 years of direct people management or influential leadership.
• Hands-on experience with propulsion or fluid-system design, analysis, or testing and with leading propulsion test campaigns.
• Experience with hypergolic propellant systems, hazardous fluid operations, or high-pressure propulsion ground systems.
• Ability to manage schedules, budgets, risks, technical communication, and team development across multiple concurrent workstreams.
• U.S. citizenship or qualifying ITAR status is required; the role is primarily onsite in Colorado.

Nice to have

• Experience establishing or expanding a propulsion test facility, safety program, and regulatory coordination process.
• Knowledge of NTO, MMH, UDMH, material compatibility, PPE, secondary containment, and applicable MIL-STD, AIAA, NASA, ASME, or NFPA standards.
• Experience scaling a propulsion team during a high-growth or startup phase.
• Master’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Chemical Engineering.
• Active DoD Secret clearance or higher, or the ability to obtain one.

Culture & Benefits

• Technical culture centered on rigor, safety, accountability, ownership, creativity, and ambitious results.
• Health, dental, vision, HRA/HSA options, PTO, and paid holidays.
• 401(k), parental leave, and equity.
• Onsite work at a propulsion and spacecraft manufacturing facility with regular travel to test sites and vendors.