Senior Mission Operations Engineer - Ground Segment

Location: Long Beach, California, United States; onsite. Willingness to support 24/7 operations during mission-critical phases, work overtime or weekends when needed, and travel up to 20% is required. The role requires U.S. person status or eligibility for deemed export licensing under U.S. export-control regulations.

Salary: $137,000–$195,000 per year for the Senior Mission Operations Engineer level. The California pay range is $137,000–$230,000 across listed levels.

Company

hirify.global develops next-generation commercial space stations and spacecraft systems for human spaceflight, microgravity research, manufacturing, and the emerging space economy.

What you will do

• Develop spacecraft and ground-operations procedures, flight rules, operational products, and processes for safe mission execution.
• Lead pre-flight testing and checkout of ground systems and verify readiness for flight.
• Support crewed and uncrewed missions through commissioning, on-orbit operations, anomaly resolution, and spacecraft deorbit.
• Analyze vehicle and ground-system telemetry and provide technical summaries and recommendations to mission stakeholders.
• Improve mission systems, mission-operations software, workflows, and ground processes in collaboration with systems and ground-software engineering.
• Translate customer requirements into balanced Concepts of Operations and mentor junior Mission Operations Engineers.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace, mechanical, software, or another engineering discipline.
• At least 5 years of experience operating complex systems.
• Ability to work cross-functionally, lead technically, communicate critical information clearly, and think critically in high-stress, rapidly changing situations.
• Willingness to support 24/7 mission-critical operations and work overtime or weekends during important milestones.
• Must be a U.S. person or otherwise eligible for deemed export licensing, including applicable U.S. citizenship, nationality, permanent-resident, asylee, or refugee status.

Nice to have

• Human spaceflight mission-operations experience and spacecraft design, build, and test experience.
• Knowledge of spacecraft systems including avionics, propulsion, attitude control, communications, orbital mechanics, life support, thermal, and power-control systems.
• Knowledge of RF, ground stations, modems, antenna systems, and other space-to-ground communications technologies.
• Software engineering experience with C++, Golang, Javascript, React, software architecture, databases, or cloud systems; Matlab or Python/Octave proficiency.
• Experience building systems, processes, and teams for complex aerospace operations, plus strong technical writing and mentorship skills.

Culture & Benefits

• Full-time exempt employment with company equity.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents.
• Paid time off, vacation, paid parental leave, disability insurance, and life insurance.
• Access to a 401(k) retirement plan, mental healthcare, ClassPass credits, and other discounts.
• Onsite meals and refreshments, including snacks, coffee, drinks, dinner, and subsidized lunch.