Hypersonic Arc Vehicle Mechanical Lead

Frontdoor Defense; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 183,000; Full time

Job summary

Inversion is seeking an Engineering Manager, Arc Vehicle Mechanical, to lead the team responsible for the mechanical design, analysis, build support, integration, and qualification of Arc vehicle structures, mechanisms, and thermal protection systems. You will own delivery of Arc's primary structures and TPS.

You will report to the Chief Engineer of Arc and guide the mechanical team through design, qualification, and flight operations, collaborating with production, hardware, and software groups

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering or equivalent technical experience.
• 8+ years of technical experience developing aerospace vehicle structures, mechanisms, TPS, or similar hardware.
• 2+ years of formal people-management experience leading engineering teams.
• Strong technical background in mechanical design, structural mechanics, load paths, joints, fasteners, materials, and manufacturing processes.
• Proven experience managing complex aerospace programs through design, environmental qualification, and flight operations.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to drive alignment across hardware, software, and production organizations.
• Master's or Ph.D. in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering or related field.
• Direct experience with hypersonic flight systems and/or reentry vehicle architectures.
• Familiarity with TPS materials characterization, structural bonding, and advanced composite fabrication.
• Prior experience in a fast-paced startup environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Arc Vehicle Mechanical team's daily execution, technical direction, people management, and engineering development.
• Own the technical delivery of the Arc primary vehicle structure, associated mechanisms, and TPS manufacture, build, and integration.
• Partner with Production on manufacturability, tooling, inspection methods, process qualification, production capacity, and long-lead material planning.
• Coordinate and define mechanical interfaces, installation requirements, access provisions, load paths, and verification responsibilities.
• Oversee structural analysis and validation, including first-principles calculations, finite-element analysis, joint assessment, tolerance analysis, and test correlation.
• Lead planning and execution of structural, mechanical, and TPS development, qualification, acceptance, and vehicle-level testing.
• Support integrated vehicle builds, environmental testing, shipment, launch preparation, recovery operations, and post-flight hardware assessment as required.
• Drive root-cause investigations and corrective actions when necessary, including build non-conformances, test anomalies, and vehicle integration issues.
• Maintain configuration discipline across CAD, drawings, bills of materials, interface definitions, TPS process documentation, tooling, and verification evidence.
• Build and mentor a high-performing mechanical engineering team.

Skills

Mechanical design

Structural mechanics

Load paths

Joints & fasteners

Materials

Manufacturing processes

Program management

Communication skills

Hypersonic flight experience

TPS materials characterization

Composite fabrication

Startup experience

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering

Master's or Ph.D. in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering

Job description

Inversion is seeking an Engineering Manager, Arc Vehicle Mechanical, to lead the team responsible for the mechanical design, analysis, build support, integration, and qualification of Arc vehicle structures, mechanisms, and thermal protection systems. You will own delivery of Arc's primary structures and TPS.

You will report to the Chief Engineer of Arc and guide the mechanical team through design, qualification, and flight operations, collaborating with production, hardware, and software groups