Inversion Space
Senior Thermal Structures Engineer
$137K–$193K
Playa Vista, California, United States · Senior · Full-time · Posted Aug 13, 2026
- Experience
- Typically, 5+ years in mechanical or structural design of aerospace hardware.
- Education
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent experience in a related field.
- Visa sponsorship
- To conform to ITAR, 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.
About the job
Owns the detailed design and analysis of heat shield and hot-structure hardware for a maneuverable reentry vehicle, from concept through flight.
What you'll do
- Design heat shield components and assemblies, including TPS panels, hot substructure, attachments, and vehicle interfaces; develop models, drawings, and GD&T through engineering release.
- Perform structural and thermal-structural analysis, from hand calculations through finite element analysis.
- Work with materials and manufacturing engineers and support structural and thermal-structural testing to verify designs.
What they ask for
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent experience in a related field.
- Typically, 5+ years of experience in the mechanical or structural design of aerospace hardware.
- Experience performing structural analysis of own designs using classical hand analysis and finite element analysis; experience with thermal-structural analysis.
- Proficiency with 3D CAD for detailed part and assembly design, drawings, and GD&T; ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance.
Nice to have
- Experience designing high-temperature structures or high-density TPS components from reinforced carbon/carbon, carbon phenolic, or ceramic matrix composites.
- Experience with hot-structure attachments, composite-material analysis or manufacturing, thermal-structural testing, or startup/small-team work.
Pay
$137,000-$193,000 USD base salary
Tools
Nastran, Abaqus, Ansys, 3D CAD
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative