Senior Propulsion and Energetics Thermofluids Engineer

The role

You will serve as the primary technical authority on vacuum chamber systems for a hypersonic plasma wind tunnel. You will design and develop mechanical structures, vacuum systems, and heat exchanger systems for a high-energy test bed.

What you will do

• Lead the design and development of vacuum chamber and heat exchanger cooling systems.
• Conduct thermal and fluid analyses on industrial-scale equipment.
• Lead high-fidelity, transient thermal analysis including 3D conjugate heat transfer modeling.
• Drive design trades across performance, manufacturability, schedule, and cost.
• Own the sizing, selection, and structural interface design between the test facility and thermal protection systems.
• Own CAD models, drawings, release packages, and bill of materials.
• Support prototype design, hands-on integration, fit checks, and issue resolution.
• Provide mechanical tooling and mechanism design bandwidth for test activities.
• Work with vehicle, manufacturing, test, supply chain, and technician teams.
• Partner with outside vendors and suppliers to source parts and review manufacturability.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent technical experience.
• 5+ years of experience in thermal design, modeling, and analysis of high-temperature systems.
• Strong practical mechanical design skills related to industrial systems, mechanisms, high thermal-load systems, and user interfaces.
• High familiarity with CAD software, such as Siemens NX.
• Experience producing engineering drawings and applying standard dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) per ASME Y14.5.
• Expertise in industry-standard thermal analysis software, such as Thermal Desktop, ANSYS Thermal, or equivalent tools.
• Strong foundational knowledge of multi-physics heat transfer and thermodynamics.
• Demonstrated experience taking complex thermal systems through the complete lifecycle.
• Proven ability to operate independently and make high-consequence technical decisions.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance.

Nice to have

• Master's or Ph.D. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering with a focus on heat transfer, fluid dynamics, or thermodynamics.
• Direct experience with designing or operating large-scale vacuum systems.
• Direct experience with industrial facility mechanical design and process engineering.
• Direct experience modeling aerothermal hypersonic environments, plasma interactions, or conjugate heat transfer (CHT) coupled with CFD solvers.
• Experience supporting prototype builds and rapid design iteration in a hardware-rich environment.
• Experience designing tooling, fixtures, or support equipment for integration and test.
• Experience using hand calculations and/or FEA to inform mechanical design decisions.
• Prior experience working in startups and/or small independent teams.

Before you apply

• 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 St
• Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance.

About the company

Inversion is an aerospace and defense company pioneering advanced reentry technology. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Inversion designs, manufactures, and integrates its spacecraft under one roof.