Senior Mechanical Test Engineer – Spaceflight Systems

Kindredventures; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 137,000 - 193,000; Full time

Job summary

Inversion is seeking a Senior Test Engineer to own the planning and execution of mechanical test campaigns for a next-generation reentry vehicle. You will work with design, analysis, manufacturing, and external test partners to retire risk and validate system performance.

This role leads tests from early development through qualification and production, developing test plans, fixtures, and data collection strategies in a fast-paced aerospace environment at our Playa Vista, CA office.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
• Typically 5+ years of professional experience in development or qualification testing for aerospace/defense.
• Experience developing component- and subsystem-level test campaigns for mechanical hardware.
• Experience writing test plans, procedures, and post-test reports.
• Experience designing test fixtures, tooling, or ground support equipment.

Responsibilities

• Own planning and execution of component-, subsystem-, and system-level test campaigns.
• Lead complex test campaigns to demonstrate system performance under representative environments.
• Develop test plans, procedures, success criteria, and test readiness documentation.
• Coordinate with external test facilities and vendors on requirements, interfaces, and schedules.
• Design and develop test fixtures, adapters, and ground support equipment.
• Collaborate with structures, mechanisms, dynamics, and manufacturing engineers to support objectives.
• Define instrumentation and data collection needs for validation and model correlation.
• Drive test campaign logistics and rapid iteration based on learnings.
• Author test reports and communicate results in design reviews and program forums.

Skills

Test campaigns

Test plans

Fixtures & GSE

Instrumentation

Cross-functional teamwork

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace/Mechanical Engineering

Tools

CAD tools

Job description

Inversion is seeking a Senior Test Engineer to own the planning and execution of mechanical test campaigns for a next-generation reentry vehicle. You will work with design, analysis, manufacturing, and external test partners to retire risk and validate system performance.

This role leads tests from early development through qualification and production, developing test plans, fixtures, and data collection strategies in a fast-paced aerospace environment at our Playa Vista, CA office.