Senior Propulsion Development Engineer
Inversion
- Playa Vista, California, United States
- Onsite
- $137,000 - $193,000 a year
- Posted Aug 18, 2026
Job description
About the role
The Senior Propulsion Development Engineer designs, builds and tests liquid and gas propulsion systems for the Arc hypersonic reentry vehicle, focusing on attitude‑control thrusters and fluid feed networks, and leads mechanical design, analysis, hardware fabrication, test planning and hot‑fire campaigns while integrating with structures, avionics, software and test teams.
About the company
Inversion builds advanced reentry systems to enable on‑demand logistics from low‑Earth orbit, delivering payloads anywhere on Earth in under an hour. The dual‑use technology serves national‑security needs and future commercial applications; the company is backed by Y Combinator, Spark Capital and Lockheed Martin Ventures and works with the U.S. Space Force and NASA.
Requirements
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret or Top Secret security clearance.
- U.S. citizenship, lawful permanent residency, protected individual status, or eligibility for required ITAR authorizations.
- Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent technical experience.
- 5+ years of hands‑on experience designing, building and testing high‑pressure fluid or rocket/spacecraft propulsion systems.
- Proficiency with CAD software (Siemens NX or equivalent) for mechanical packaging and fluid line routing.
- Strong knowledge of fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, structural mechanics and materials compatibility.
- Hands‑on experience with high‑pressure fluid components, plumbing, tubing, fittings, manifold blocks and pneumatic systems.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including writing detailed test and hazard procedures.
- Direct experience with spacecraft attitude control systems, cold‑gas, warm‑gas or monopropellant/bipropellant thrusters.
- Familiarity with high‑pressure gas system operations, nitrogen/helium systems and safety‑critical hazard controls.
- Experience with ANSYS Mechanical or equivalent FEA tools.
- Experience using Python, MATLAB or GFSSP for fluid system analysis.
- Prior experience performing acceptance and qualification testing of propulsion components per standards such as SMC‑S‑016 or GSFC‑STD‑7000A.
- Background in a fast‑paced aerospace startup, collegiate rocket/propulsion team or small independent hardware team.