Senior Mission Engineer (Nuclear Energy)

Location: Onsite in Torrance, California, in the Los Angeles area; travel to customer and mission-relevant locations is required as needed.

Salary: $145,000–$185,000 per year, plus a significant stock option package.

Company

hirify.global is a Series B startup developing mass-producible, inherently safe nuclear microreactors for terrestrial, underwater, and space applications.

What you will do

• Lead delivery of customer-facing commercial, defense, and space programs, owning cost, schedule, quality, contractual compliance, and milestone execution.
• Coordinate engineering collaboration, internal and external reviews, and cross-disciplinary decision-making to achieve mission objectives.
• Connect customer feedback with engineering design inputs through closed-loop requirements management.
• Propose development programs to DoD and DOE sponsors and support technical proposals, contract acquisition, and funding opportunities.
• Develop use-case analyses, CONOPS research, and technical roadmaps for product readiness and specific deployments.
• Define system architectures and interfaces, including deployment logistics, facility interfaces, transportation, commissioning, and decommissioning of nuclear systems.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, or applied science.
• 5+ years of experience in complex, safety-critical, defense, or aerospace programs with accountability for cost, schedule, and technical performance.
• Strong foundations in thermodynamics, thermofluids, energy systems, aerospace, engineering economics, and systems-level thinking.
• Experience developing or integrating hardware in energy, automotive, nuclear, or aerospace environments.
• Proficiency in systems engineering and agile practices for complex technical systems.
• Must be eligible to satisfy U.S. government export requirements through U.S. citizenship or nationality, lawful permanent residence, refugee or asylee status, or required U.S. Department of State authorizations.

Nice to have

• Master's degree or PhD in engineering.
• Python for numerical or multiphysics work, plus familiarity with Git and CI/CD.
• Experience with transportation logistics and government sponsors such as DoD, DOE, NASA, USAF, or USSF.
• PMP or another relevant project management certification.
• Leadership experience on a project or research team and experience in a startup environment.
• Ability to obtain a Top Secret or Top Secret SCI clearance.

Culture & Benefits

• Systems-oriented approach to complex energy and defense ecosystems.
• Strong focus on end users and the full product life cycle.
• Emphasis on unconventional solutions and first-principles problem-solving.
• Teams prioritize in-person collaboration, while deep work can be performed from anywhere.
• Ability to work long hours and weekends when necessary to support critical milestones.