---
title: 'Head of Accurate Landing at Inversion'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-accurate-landing-inversion-playa-vista-xw2kbdhygtdz'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-07'
---

# Head of Accurate Landing at Inversion

- **Company:** Inversion
- **Location:** Playa Vista, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-10-19
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-07
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/inversionspace/jobs/4745313005

## Job description

Advanced Reentry Technologies

Who We Are:

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 the Head of Arc Accurate Landing at Inversion, you will report directly to the Chief Engineer of Arc. You will spearhead the creation, design, and leadership of one of Inversion’s most innovative capabilities: the technology behind autonomously and accurately landing a spacecraft anywhere on Earth. Inversion’s spacecraft are capable of fully autonomously landing anywhere and in any environment with pinpoint accuracy. You will own the technical development of the software stack, sensor and electrical design, GNC systems, and parachute and recovery hardware from conceptual design to continuous testing and deployment onto production vehicles. In this role, you will:

## Key Responsibilities

- Lead the Accurate Landing organization, including mechanical, GNC, avionics, software, systems, and test engineers.
- Own the technical architecture and delivery of Arc’s recoverable landing system.
- Deliver the landing system from requirements and architecture through development, qualification, vehicle integration, flight readiness, and recovery operations.
- Own the Drop Test Vehicle roadmap and ground and aerial test campaigns used to mature parachutes, mechanisms, avionics, software, range safety, and field operations.
- Establish verification strategy, qualification plans, flight-readiness criteria, and technical margins for the complete landing sequence.
- Lead system-level trades across landing accuracy, deployment reliability, structural loads, descent rate, mass, power, volume, operability, and schedule
- Build and develop the Accurate Landing team, including hiring, organizational design, performance management, succession planning, and development of future technical and people leaders.
- Create a culture of disciplined test execution, operational safety, technical rigor, and rapid learning.

Required Qualifications

- Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent technical experience.
- Typically 10+ years of hands-on experience in complex vehicle development, hardware integration, and environmental testing.
- Typically 3+ years of engineering leadership experience, including responsibility for multidisciplinary teams and technical delivery.
- Demonstrated ownership of a complex system through design, integration, qualification, and flight or field operations.
- Deep technical competency in at least one relevant area, such as:
- Parachutes or aerodynamic decelerators.
- Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC)
- Aerospace mechanisms.
- Flight avionics or autonomous systems.
- Vehicle-level test and qualification.
- Experience leading hardware-rich development and flight-test campaigns with high consequence of failure.
- Proven ability to make sound technical and resource decisions under aggressive schedules and incomplete information.
- Demonstrated excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Proven ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment.
- Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance.

Desired Qualifications

- Master’s degree or Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
- Direct experience developing or testing parachutes, parafoils, guided recovery systems, airborne systems, or precision-landing vehicles.
- Experience with spacecraft, launch vehicles, reentry systems, hypersonic vehicles, or high-reliability defense hardware.
- Experience planning and operating aerial drop tests, including range coordination, aviation assets, telemetry, recovery, and operational safety.
- Experience with parachute deployment dynamics, inflation loads, descent modeling, guidance, navigation, control, and Monte Carlo analysis.
- Experience developing mechanisms involving pyrotechnic, pneumatic, spring-loaded, or other high-reliability actuation.
- Familiarity with SIL, HIL, flight-data analysis, environmental qualification, and hardware acceptance testing.
- Experience managing external suppliers for parachutes, fabrics, mechanisms, avionics, test aircraft, or flight-test services.
- Experience building an engineering organization in a fast-paced startup or similarly resource-constrained environment.

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 - $230,000. 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](https://www.pmddtc.state.gov/?id=ddtc_kb_article_page&sys_id=24d528fddbfc930044f9ff621f961987).

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 [CCPA Privacy Policy Notice](https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa) for further details.

## About Inversion

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Inversion builds advanced reentry vehicles to turn space into a global logistics network for Earth, enabling rapid, precise delivery of payloads anywhere on the planet.
- **Entity Type**: Private (funding stage: Series unknown; raised $44M from investors including Y Combinator, plus a $71M U.S. Space Force contract)
- **Headquarters**: Playa Vista, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2021
- **Founders**: Justin Fiaschetti and Austin Briggs

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Aerospace & Defense – Reentry vehicles, space logistics, hypersonic delivery
- **Target customers**: U.S. Department of Defense, national security agencies, and future commercial logistics operators (B2G / B2B)
- **Mission**: “To make Earth radically more accessible by turning space into a global logistics network.”

## Products & Services
- **Ray**: Inversion’s first in-house developed spacecraft and reentry capsule, built to validate key subsystems for future vehicles. Developed by a team of 25 for under $1M.
- **Arc**: Flagship autonomous, reusable, low-cost space-based delivery vehicle designed to deploy payloads anywhere on Earth in under an hour. Dual-use for defense and commercial applications.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of $44M (led by Y Combinator and other investors) + $71M Space Force contract
- **Notable Investors / Partners**: Y Combinator, Anduril Industries (partnered on space-based interceptors for Golden Dome), U.S. Space Force
- **Growth Signals**: 60-person team, 55,000 sqft facility in Los Angeles, dedicated test site in Mojave Desert, successful orbital flight of Ray, partnership with Anduril for Golden Dome program

## Competitive Advantages
- **Speed & cost**: Entire spacecraft developed by 25 people for under $1M – dramatically faster and cheaper than traditional aerospace.
- **In-house vertical integration**: Nearly every system (propulsion, avionics, thermal protection, parachutes) developed internally.
- **Dual-use focus**: Technology serves urgent defense needs while laying groundwork for commercial logistics.
- **Experienced founding team**: Former SpaceX (Raptor engine) and ABL Space Systems engineers.

## Strategic Focus
- **Immediate priority**: Deliver on the Space Force contract and Golden Dome partnership with Anduril for space-based interceptors.
- **Long-term vision**: Build a reusable, on-demand logistics network using Low-Earth Orbit to enable global delivery in under an hour.
- **Technical roadmap**: Scale reentry vehicle production, improve landing precision, and expand military and commercial applications.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Emphasizes “talent density” and “extreme ownership” – a small, high-impact team where every engineer owns critical hardware flying in space.
- **Work environment**: Hands-on, fast iteration – rapid testing at Mojave test site, full machine shop, cleanroom integration facility, and parachute manufacturing on-site.
- **Hybrid / office**: Likely on-site heavy (engineering, manufacturing, testing); HQ in Playa Vista, CA.
- **Perks**: Generous parental leave, family and childcare benefits (per Built In).
- **Engineering culture**: Build and test own hardware; work across GNC, avionics, propulsion, structures, and simulation. 32 open roles on Greenhouse as of mid-2026.

## Sources
1. [inversionspace.com](https://www.inversionspace.com/)
2. [inversionspace.com/company](https://www.inversionspace.com/company)
3. [inversionspace.com/careers](https://www.inversionspace.com/careers)
4. [job-boards.greenhouse.io/inversionspace](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/inversionspace)
5. [builtin.com/company/inversion-space](https://builtin.com/company/inversion-space)

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