Hypersonic Reentry Lead Engineer — Flight Hardware

Hop Aero; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Healthcare

Meals & snacks

Direct collaboration with founders

Technical ownership

Job summary

Hop Aero is seeking a Lead Hypersonic Reentry Engineer to own analysis, design, and development of atmospheric reentry capability. This foundational role spans hypersonic aerodynamics, aerothermal environments, thermal protection, and vehicle design, including tests and flight hardware.

You will build first-principles models, run CFD, evaluate TPS concepts, and coordinate with GNC, structures, propulsion, and test teams to move from early analysis to flight.

Qualifications

• 5–10 years of relevant experience in hypersonics, reentry, high-speed aerodynamics, or related fields.
• Strong understanding of compressible flow, hypersonic aerodynamics, heat transfer, boundary layers, shock interactions, and high-temperature gas dynamics.
• Experience modeling aerodynamic and aerothermal environments for high-speed vehicles.
• Experience with CFD and numerical methods for hypersonic or thermally challenging flows.
• Ability to translate analytical results into vehicle-level design decisions.
• Understanding of reentry trajectory trades, vehicle stability, aerodynamic loading, and thermal constraints.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the responsible engineer for hypersonic reentry, aerothermal environments, and thermal-protection systems.
• Define vehicle aerodynamic and heating environments across hypersonic entry, deceleration, and descent.
• Develop first-principles and numerical models for hypersonic aerodynamics, heating, and heat transfer.
• Perform CFD and other high-fidelity analysis for high-speed atmospheric flight.
• Develop aerodynamic and aerothermal databases for use by cross-functional teams.
• Support trajectory and vehicle-shape trades balancing range, heating, stability, and structural loads.
• Evaluate TPS architectures, materials, coatings, insulation systems, and attachment concepts.
• Correlate analytical models with ground-test and flight-test data.
• Work with suppliers and manufacturing teams to develop practical reentry hardware.
• Translate reentry environments into requirements for systems across the vehicle.

Skills

Hypersonics

Aerodynamics

Aerothermal engineering

Thermal protection

CFD analysis

Experimental design

GNC interfaces

Test hardware experience

ITAR awareness

Job description

Hop Aero is seeking a Lead Hypersonic Reentry Engineer to own analysis, design, and development of atmospheric reentry capability. This foundational role spans hypersonic aerodynamics, aerothermal environments, thermal protection, and vehicle design, including tests and flight hardware.

You will build first-principles models, run CFD, evaluate TPS concepts, and coordinate with GNC, structures, propulsion, and test teams to move from early analysis to flight.