Inversion Space
Senior Chemical Process Engineer
$137K–$193K
Playa Vista, California, United States · Senior · Full-time · Posted Aug 13, 2026
- Experience
- Typically, 5+ years of experience in process development and scale-up of wet-chemistry or polymer manufacturing processes.
- Education
- Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent experience in a related field.
- 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 the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State for ITAR compliance.
About the job
Develops and scales wet-chemistry manufacturing processes for thermal protection system materials, from laboratory demonstrations through production equipment commissioning.
What you'll do
- Develop sol-gel infusion and resin injection processes, including specifying, procuring, and commissioning equipment.
- Characterize process variables, scale processes to production hardware, and establish repeatable documentation and statistical process control.
- Set safe production-scale wet-chemistry practices and work with materials scientists, manufacturing engineers, and vendors to bring capabilities in-house.
What they ask for
- Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent experience in a related field.
- Experience with infusion, infiltration, or impregnation-based manufacturing processes.
- Strong fundamentals in polymer and colloid processing, including rheology, gelation and cure kinetics, and mass transfer during infiltration.
- Experience scaling processes from lab to production, handling production-scale hazardous chemistry, and ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance.
Nice to have
- Master's or PhD in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field.
- Experience with production-scale sol-gel processing, drying processes, ablative resin systems, PLC/SCADA, or startups and small teams.
Pay
$137,000-$193,000 USD base salary
Tools
sol-gel infusion, resin transfer molding (RTM/VARTM), PHA/HAZOP, PLC/SCADA
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative