Y Combinator, Spark Capital, Lockheed Martin Ventures
Stack
autonomous systems
The posting, condensed
Technical Program Manager for aerospace reentry spacecraft development, overseeing end-to-end program execution from requirements through manufacturing and delivery. Work with multidisciplinary teams across structures, thermal systems, avionics, and propulsion on the Arc spacecraft platform.
Inversion is an aerospace and defense company pioneering advanced reentry technology to enable next-generation capabilities from space. By combining high-performance materials, precision aerodynamics, and mission-driven autonomy, Inversion is transforming reentry into an operational capability for an entirely new class of missions.
The company’s highly maneuverable reentry spacecraft, Arc, is designed for rapid global cargo delivery, hypersonic testing, and other national security missions that require precise, controlled flight through the atmosphere. Arc creates an entirely new transportation domain, unlocking unprecedented speed and global reach.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, Inversion designs, manufactures, and integrates its spacecraft under one roof, enabling the company to move rapidly from concept to flight. The company is backed by leading investors including Y Combinator, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures, with customers across the U.S. government and commercial space industry.
Position Overview:
As a Technical Program Manager, Reentry Systems, you will own the technical and programmatic execution of a major reentry system development program from requirements definition through design, analysis, manufacturing, qualification, production, and delivery.
This is a deeply technical program leadership role. You will work directly with multidisciplinary engineering teams while serving as a primary interface to the customer. You will be accountable for turning mission requirements into an executable technical plan, driving engineering decisions and trades, identifying and retiring risk, and ensuring the team delivers sophisticated flight hardware on schedule.
You should be comfortable operating at the intersection of engineering, manufacturing, program execution, and the customer. You will not simply track schedules or facilitate meetings—you will need enough technical depth to understand the system, challenge assumptions, identify issues before they become critical, and drive teams toward decisions.
Key Responsibilities:
Own end-to-end program execution for a reentry system, from customer requirements and early architecture through detailed design, analysis, manufacturing, integration, qualification, production, and delivery.
Own the integrated technical plan across structures, mechanisms, thermal protection systems, aerothermal analysis, GNC, avionics, propulsion, manufacturing, test, and other disciplines required to deliver the system.
Partner closely with engineering leads to define the technical path to success, drive trades, resolve cross-functional issues, and ensure analysis and design activities converge into flight-ready hardware.
Drive the development and closure of system requirements, interfaces, verification plans, and technical risks.
Lead program planning, including development schedules, major design and test milestones, dependencies, critical path, resource requirements, and risk-retirement activities.
Lead major technical and program reviews and ensure that design maturity, analysis, hardware readiness, and verification evidence support progression to the next phase of development.
Work closely with manufacturing and production teams to ensure designs transition effectively from prototype hardware into repeatable production, including manufacturability, tooling, supplier readiness, inspection, process qualification, and long-lead planning.
Drive hardware through build, integration, environmental testing, qualification, acceptance, and flight readiness, rapidly resolving technical and programmatic issues as they emerge.
Serve as a primary technical and programmatic interface with the customer, developing a deep understanding of their mission requirements and maintaining clear, accurate, and trusted communication throughout program execution.
Translate evolving customer needs into actionable engineering requirements while clearly communicating technical constraints, schedule implications, risks, and tradeoffs.
Maintain tight configuration and execution discipline across requirements, interfaces, analyses, design releases, bills of material, manufacturing plans, test plans, verification evidence, and customer deliverables.
Identify technical, schedule, manufacturing, and supply-chain risks early and drive mitigation plans to closure.
Coordinate multidisciplinary engineering teams around clear priorities and decisions, particularly when timelines are aggressive and information is incomplete.
Support proposals, follow-on efforts, and future program opportunities by developing credible technical approaches, schedules, resource plans, and execution strategies.
Required Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
Typically 7+ years of experience developing and delivering complex aerospace, defense, or similarly demanding hardware systems.
Strong mechanical engineering foundation and demonstrated experience with complex, tightly coupled hardware systems, rather than isolated components or relatively simple products.
Experience taking sophisticated hardware through multiple phases of the product lifecycle, including requirements definition, analysis, design, manufacturing, integration, test, qualification, and production.
Demonstrated ability to understand and engage deeply in mechanical design and analysis, including areas such as structural mechanics, thermal environments, materials, mechanisms, loads, manufacturing processes, tolerances, and hardware integration.
Experience leading multidisciplinary technical teams through challenging development programs with aggressive schedules.
Proven ability to identify the critical technical issues within a complex system, challenge assumptions, drive decisions, and bring ambiguous problems to closure.
Experience developing and managing integrated program schedules, technical milestones, dependencies, risks, and execution plans.
Experience working directly with external customers, preferably U.S. government or defense customers, on complex technical programs.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with hands-on engineers, company leadership, suppliers, and senior customer stakeholders.
Comfortable taking ownership in a fast-paced environment with limited resources, evolving requirements, and significant individual responsibility.
Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance.
Desired Qualifications:
Direct experience developing reentry vehicles, hypersonic systems, spacecraft, launch vehicles, missiles, or other high-performance aerospace systems operating in severe environments.
Experience with thermal protection systems, high-temperature materials, ceramics, ablatives, composites, refractory materials, or other materials and processes used in reentry or hypersonic flight.
Experience with aerothermal environments, high-temperature structures, aeroshells, structural dynamics, or hypersonic vehicle design.
Experience owning a vehicle, major subsystem, or complex mechanical system from early development through flight or operational deployment.
Experience transitioning advanced aerospace hardware from development into low-rate or recurring production.
Experience with qualification and acceptance testing of flight hardware, including structural, thermal, vibration, shock, environmental, or integrated system testing.
Experience with government development programs, technical reviews, verification and validation, and formal customer deliverables.
Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field.
Prior experience working in a fast-paced startup or small, highly accountable engineering organization.
Existing active U.S. Secret or Top Secret security clearance.
Our office headquarters is located in Playa Vista, CA. This position requires in office presence.
The California annual base salary for this role is currently $145,000-$205,000. Pay Grades are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual pay will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: interviews and an assessment of several factors that are unique to each candidate, job-related skills, relevant education and experience, certifications, abilities of the candidate and internal equity.
ITAR Compliance:
To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you 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 the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR
here
.
Equal Employment Opportunity:
Inversion provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status, or disability.
Inversion collects and processes personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws. If you are a US Job Applicant see the
