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Structures Engineer III

Playa Vista, California, United States

Turning Space into a Transportation Layer for Earth

Who We Are:

Eras of humanity can often be defined by a dominate transportation mode - horse drawn chariots, ocean going boats, or aircraft. These were spurred by a small group of people rigorously focused on building technology to achieve faster access to more of the world. We seek to usher in a new era of humanity defined by universal access to the whole globe free of borders and the presence of a routine way from space to Earth. To do this, we are building highly maneuverable re-entry vehicles that can loiter in orbit before precision landing back on Earth.  

What You’ll Do:

The Structures Engineer III will be the full scope owner of spacecraft hardware, including primary and secondary structures on Inversion’s Arc vehicle. This role will be one of the main structures engineers on the Arc Reentry team and will be responsible for design, analysis, testing, manufacturing, and flight. The structures engineer will interface closely with all other areas of the engineering team, including propulsion, avionics, mechanisms, GNC, and the missions team. On a day-to-day basis, the structures engineer will be the responsible engineering owner of spacecraft packaging, interfacing, and will be the glue connecting all flight systems together. This is a unique opportunity to work on the early stages of a novel reentry vehicle, including define vehicle architecture and creatively solving new design challenges.

Required Qualifications:

  • Minimum of bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or related field OR equivalent experience 
  • Excellent communication skills and the ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team of mechanical, electrical, propulsion, and software engineers designing and building space-flight hardware
  • Strong mechanical design skills related to large metallic primary and secondary spacecraft structures, vehicle packaging, high load environments, aerospace materials, and analysis and testing requirements for spacecraft structures
  • Proven ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment, including prototyping and rapid iteration of new products
  • Demonstrated excellent verbal and written communication skills
  • Creative packaging design experience and creativity to create new vehicle architectures
  • Comfortable with all aspects of a program; taking a design from concept through launch
  • Familiarity with CAD software and FEM analysis software
  • 6+ years applicable experience (open to experience in fields other than aerospace)
  • This position is onsite at Inversion HQ in Playa Vista, CA.

Desired Qualifications:

  • Master’s degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or related field
  • 8+ years applicable experience (open to experience in fields other than aerospace)
  • Familiarity with design and test standards such as SMC-S-016, MIL-STD-810H, and launch vehicle payload user’s guides
  • Familiarity with Siemens NX
  • Familiarity with ANSYS Mechanical, NASTRAN or similar FEA packages
  • Prior experience in design and test of qualified space-flight hardware
  • Prior experience with large metallic space, aerospace, or similar structures

 

Our office headquarters is located in Playa Vista, CA. This position requires in office presence.

The California annual base salary for this role is currently $122,000 - $144,000 Pay Grades are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data.  Individual pay will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: interviews and an assessment of several factors that are unique to each candidate, job-related skills, relevant education and experience, certifications, abilities of the candidate and internal equity. 

 

ITAR Compliance:
To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.  
 
Equal Employment Opportunity:
Inversion provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status, or disability.  
 
Inversion collects and processes personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws.  If you are a US Job Applicant see the CCPA Privacy Policy Notice for further details.

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