Senior Tooling Engineer

Advanced Reentry Technologies

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.

At Inversion, development speed and scalable systems depend on robust, practical tooling that makes assembly and integration repeatable. As a Tooling Engineer II focused on TPS, you will design the tooling that is critical to successfully manufacturing, forming, machining and integrating thermal protection materials. You will work closely with materials engineers, technicians, and manufacturing teams to create tooling that is simple, durable, and effective across demanding thermal processes. In this role, you will:

• •Lead the design of tooling used at each stage of the manufacturing and integration process for TPS materials from initial concept through fabrication.
• •Design layup molds, winding mandrels, and forming tools for parts with complex curvature accounting for elevated-temperature processing, tool-to-part CTE mismatch, and tool life
• •Design tooling that supports thin, curved, and fragile parts through machining, trimming, and drilling
• •Generate detailed CAD, drawings, and fabrication packages for internal and external build
• •Work directly with technicians and manufacturing teams to improve ergonomics, repeatability, and process flow
• •Coordinate with outside vendors and internal machine shop resources to fabricate and modify tooling quickly
• •Improve tooling designs through hands-on iteration during material development and hardware build

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 .