Inversion Space
Senior Mechanical Engineer
$137K–$193K
Playa Vista, California, United States · Senior · Full-time · Posted May 19, 2026
- Experience
- Typically 5+ years; no stated alternative.
- Education
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, a related field, or equivalent 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 under ITAR. Must be able to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance.
About the job
Designs, tests, and integrates mechanical systems and mechanisms for accurate landing and recovery of reentry spacecraft, from concept through fabrication and flight-related testing.
What you'll do
- Develop parachute deployment, control actuation, and drop-test mechanisms and structures.
- Test and qualify landing and recovery systems through aerial drop campaigns and environmental testing.
- Support prototype builds, integration, design trade-offs, and coordination with manufacturing teams and suppliers.
What they ask for
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, a related field, or equivalent experience.
- Typically 5+ years of applicable hands-on experience developing mechanical systems, structures, and aerospace vehicles or equivalently complicated mechanical assemblies.
- Experience with Siemens NX or similar CAD software; FEA software; engineering drawings and GD&T per ASME Y14.5.
- Experience taking hardware from concept through fabrication, assembly, and integration; ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance.
Nice to have
- Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, a related field, or equivalent experience.
- Experience with spacecraft, launch, reentry, hypersonic, or other high-performance aerospace systems; qualified space-flight hardware; prototype builds; or startups and small teams.
Pay
$137,000-$193,000 USD base salary
Tools
Siemens NX, ANSYS Mechanical, NASTRAN, FEMAP, ASME Y14.5
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative