Inversion Space
Head of Accurate Landing
$161K–$230K
Playa Vista, California, United States · Director · Full-time · Posted Oct 19, 2026
- Experience
- Typically 10+ years of hands-on experience and typically 3+ years of engineering leadership experience.
- Education
- Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent technical experience.
- Visa sponsorship
- 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 required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State for ITAR compliance.
About the job
Leads the organization developing, testing, integrating, and deploying Arc’s autonomous, accurate spacecraft landing and recovery system.
What you'll do
- Lead the multidisciplinary Accurate Landing team and own the landing system’s technical architecture and delivery.
- Drive development from requirements through qualification, vehicle integration, flight readiness, and recovery operations; lead system-level tradeoffs and verification planning.
- Own the Drop Test Vehicle roadmap and test campaigns, and build a culture of safety, rigorous testing, and rapid learning.
What they ask for
- Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent technical experience.
- Typically 10+ years of hands-on experience in complex vehicle development, hardware integration, and environmental testing.
- Typically 3+ years of engineering leadership, including multidisciplinary teams and technical delivery; demonstrated complex-system ownership through design, integration, qualification, and flight or field operations.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance.
Nice to have
- Master’s degree or Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
- Experience with parachutes, guided recovery systems, precision-landing vehicles, spacecraft, reentry systems, or flight-test campaigns.
Pay
USD 161,000 - USD 230,000 base salary
Tools
Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC), SIL, HIL, Monte Carlo analysis
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative