Principal Propulsion Engineer, Engine Systems & Test (Rocket Propulsion)

Location: Long Beach, California, United States. The role requires an average of 15% travel to test and launch sites and may include shifted schedules or weekend work during critical milestones.

Salary: $185,000–$277,000 USD annually.

Company

hirify.global is developing the Terran R launch vehicle, rockets, engines, and manufacturing systems for commercial payload delivery to orbit.

What you will do

• Drive engine system architecture and CONOPS trade studies.
• Manage engine interfaces and negotiate requirements to optimize vehicle performance.
• Support engine system development, analysis, simulation, testing, and engineering tool development.
• Influence the development trajectory of the current Aeon R engine and future engine iterations.
• Lead collaborative technical projects across propulsion teams and disciplines.
• Mentor engineers while contributing deep technical expertise to system-level problems.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in science, engineering, technology, or mathematics.
• 11+ years of relevant engineering experience, preferably in complex system development or testing.
• Experience applying engineering fundamentals in fluid mechanics and thermodynamics.
• Working knowledge of liquid-propellant rocket engines.
• Demonstrated ownership, problem-solving ability, collaboration, and delivery on ambitious schedules.
• Ability to lead projects to completion with minimal oversight.

Nice to have

• Working knowledge of valves and instrumentation.
• Working knowledge of combustion devices and turbomachinery.

Culture & Benefits

• Autonomy, ownership, and bottoms-up technical decision-making.
• Cross-functional collaboration across propulsion, manufacturing, software, avionics, and corporate teams.
• Competitive salary and equity.
• Generous paid time off and sick leave, parental leave, and an annual learning and development stipend.
• Opportunities to work on novel rocket engine development and qualification.