Inversion

Senior Engineering Manager, Arc Vehicle Reentry

Playa Vista, California, United States · Senior

Sponsorship not specifiedDetected 40 days ago

AlgorithmsSparkLogisticsCFDMechanical DesignAerospace EngineeringActuators

About the role

These systems open the door to new ways of testing, delivering, and operating at hypersonic speeds.
Inherently dual-use, our technology is built to meet urgent national security needs while laying the groundwork for future commercial applications.

In this role, you will lead the multi-disciplinary engineers responsible for the aerothermal performance, primary structures, thermal protection systems (TPS), flap actuators, and hypersonic GNC algorithms of the Arc reentry vehicle.
Lead daily operations, roadmaps, and budget allocation for the Arc Reentry organization, managing multiple teams across structures, GNC, flight sciences, and TPS production.
Own the technical delivery of the Arc primary vehicle structure, aerodynamic shape, and thermal protection system (TPS) integration.
Own the technical characterization of the aerodynamic forces and moments and aerothermal environments during hypersonic reentry.
Manage the design, development, and qualification of high-temperature flap actuators and mechanism interfaces critical to hypersonic flight control.
Drive TPS production, tool design, and hands-on application processes for the physical vehicle build, collaborating directly with the Production and AI&T teams.
Recruit, mentor, and build a high-performance team, developing future engineering managers and technical leaders within the Reentry organization.
Lead critical multi-system trade studies, balancing mass budgets, thermal margins, aerodynamic control authority, and structural integrity.
Typically 10 + years of technical experience in aerospace vehicle design, structural engineering, GNC, or aerothermodynamics.

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent technical experience.
Typically 3+ years of formal people-management experience, with a proven track record of leading multi-disciplinary engineering teams.

Inversion builds advanced reentry systems to deliver next-generation capabilities from space.
Our mission is to make Earth radically more accessible by turning Low-Earth Orbit into an on-demand logistics domain.
We see space not as a destination, but as a platform - one that unlocks unprecedented speed and global reach.
Our spacecraft are designed to deliver payloads anywhere on Earth in under an hour, operating through extreme reentry conditions and landing with high precision.
Backed by leading investors including Y Combinator, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures, and working with partners such as the U.S. Space Force and NASA, Inversion is pushing the boundaries of what's possible in space-based defense and logistics.
As the Senior Engineering Manager of Arc Vehicle Reentry at Inversion, you will report directly to the Chief Engineer of Arc.
Oversee the development, testing, and validation of Arc hypersonic reentry GNC algorithms and flight performance from reentry initiation through parachute deployment.
Coordinate with the centralized Reentry functional group to utilize core analysis tools for CFD aerothermal modeling, conjugate heat transfer, plasma modeling, and structural dynamics.
Required Qualifications
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This listing is sourced directly from Inversion's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.