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Senior Parachute Engineer, Ram-Air

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. 

Turning Space into a Transportation Layer for Earth 

 Who We Are: 

Eras of humanity can often be defined by a dominant transportation mode - horse drawn carriage, ocean faring 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: 

As the responsible engineer for Arc’s ram-air parachute, you will lead the design, testing, and manufacture of the Arc spacecraft’s guided parachutes. You will also support the development of other decelerator systems. You will report to the Lead Parachute Development Engineer.  

  • Responsible for designing, testing, and manufacturing Arc’s ram-air parachutes. 
  • Working with other sub-teams to ensure ram-air canopies meet overall performance requirements.  
  • Support testing of Arc’s other parachute and deployment systems. 

Required Qualifications: 

  • Experience designing ram-air canopies, from initial concept through production 
  • Strong engineering design fundamentals 
  • Experience with relevant CAD and design software (may include GliderPlan, Openglider, LEparagliding, AutoCAD, NX, etc.) 
  • Experienced in textile design and testing 
  • FAA Senior Rigger Certification 
  • Experienced sewing machine operator 
  • USPA Class D Sport Parachute license or equivalent 

Desired Qualifications: 

  • Bachelor’s degree or higher in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent experience in a relevant field 
  • Joint precision airdrop system (JPADS) design and testing experience 
  • FAA Master Rigger certification 
  • Paraglider, speed wing, wingsuit, or kite design and/or practical experience 
  • Tandem, AFF, S&TA, or other skydiving instructional ratings 
  • Heavy cargo airdrop experience 
  • Military airdrop experience 
  • Knowledge of simulation-based wing modeling, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), and/or wind tunnel testing. 
  • Experience with flight instrumentation and avionics design 

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 $135,000 - $160,000.  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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