Staff Aerothermal CFD Methods Engineer

Who We Are: 

Inversion builds advanced reentry systems to deliver next-generation capabilities from space. 

Our mission is to make Earth radically more accessible by turning Low-Earth Orbit into an on-demand logistics domain. We see space not as a destination, but as a platform — one that unlocks unprecedented speed and global reach. 

Our spacecraft are designed to deliver payloads anywhere on Earth in under an hour, operating through extreme reentry conditions and landing with high precision. These systems open the door to new ways of testing, delivering, and operating at hypersonic speeds. 

Inherently dual-use, our technology is built to meet urgent national security needs while laying the groundwork for future commercial applications. Backed by leading investors including Y Combinator, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures, and working with partners such as the U.S. Space Force and NASA, Inversion is pushing the boundaries of what's possible in space-based defense and logistics. 

What You'll Do: 

The aerothermal environments that Inversion's vehicles fly through push beyond what off-the-shelf analysis tools can characterize. As the Staff Aerothermal CFD Methods Engineer, you will build and extend the computational tools our aerothermal team depends on — developing new physics models, numerics, and solver capabilities rather than simply applying existing ones. A meaningful portion of this work will involve developing extensions to US3D. In this role, you will: 

• Build and extend the computational tools used to characterize the aerothermal environment around reentry vehicles 

• Develop, implement, and validate extensions to existing high enthalpy flow solvers, spanning physics models, numerical methods, and solver infrastructure 

• Implement and improve models of high-temperature gas dynamics, including thermochemical non-equilibrium and finite-rate chemistry including ablation products or other additional species present in flow 

• Develop multi-phase flow modeling capability with an emphasis on droplet interactions — atomization and breakup, evaporation, droplet-shock and droplet-surface interaction, and two-way coupling between dispersed and continuous phases 

• Verify and validate new capabilities against analytical solutions, ground test, and flight data 

• Work closely with production aerothermal analysts to harden new capabilities into reliable, documented tools 

• Mentor engineers across the aerothermal team 

Required Qualifications: 

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Physics, or equivalent experience in a related field 

• Typically, 9+ years of experience developing CFD methods and solver capabilities 

• Experience writing, extending or modifying high-enthalpy CFD solvers 

• Experience modeling high-temperature gas dynamics and chemistry, including thermochemical non-equilibrium 

• Experience modeling multi-phase flows with an emphasis on droplet interactions — such as spray atomization and breakup modeling for fuel injection systems, or coolant droplet modeling for turbine engines 

• Strong fundamentals in numerical methods for compressible flow, including finite volume discretization, shock capturing, and implicit solution methods 

• Proficiency in compiled scientific programming languages such as Fortran, C, or C++ 

• Proven ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment, including prototyping and rapid iteration of new products 

• This position is on-site at Inversion HQ in Playa Vista, CA. 

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

Desired Qualifications: 

• PhD in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or a related field 

• Familiarity with both Lagrangian and Eulerian approaches to particle tracking as well as experience with droplet breakup and dispersion models (e.g., KH-RT, TAB) 

• Experience with Fortran, particularly in the context of extending existing solver codebases 

• Direct experience with US3D, including extension through user-defined subroutines 

• Experience with plasma simulation for weakly ionized flows and / or experience with electromagnetic simulation 

• Experience with parallel scientific computing (e.g., MPI) on large-scale HPC systems 

• Prior experience working in startups and/or small independent teams 

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 $161,000-$221,000.  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.}