Deputy Program Engineer, Hypersonic Strike Castelion is rapidly developing and delivering advanced defense systems at a time when execution and technical excellence matter more than ever. We move fast, focus hard, and build real capability—not just concepts. This is a rare opportunity to join at an early stage where your work will directly shape critical systems, influence major technical decisions, and have immediate real-world impact. Role Overview System-level trades for Blackbeard development test milestones and own configuration and release status for all Blackbeard development flights. Serve as the primary technical partner to the product Responsible Engineer, maintaining a vehicle-level understanding of the system and driving technical execution across the program. Set and maintain clear visibility into testing progress across the company including vehicle-level systems integration, propulsion, structures, avionics, GNC, software, payload, thermal, and ground systems.
Responsibilities Own the objectives, success criteria, schedule, and vehicle configuration for each development test. Align these with program leadership and technical stakeholders. Own the integrated technical configuration for each development vehicle and mission, including top-level vehicle CAD, interfaces, configuration baselines, and design release status. Identify and resolve cross-functional technical issues, interface conflicts, and configuration gaps that could impact vehicle performance, build, test, or flight. Track and communicate vehicle technical maturity, schedule, critical-path risks, and readiness to the broader organization and program leadership. Lead vehicle and mission readiness reviews, ensuring technical risks, open work, deviations, and required decisions are clearly understood and driven to closure. Coordinate preflight engineering verification across all disciplines, ensuring required analyses, tests, inspections, and technical approvals are completed. Own or coordinate key customer technical data deliveries and mission-specific vehicle information. Ensure lessons learned from ground and flight testing are rapidly incorporated into subsequent vehicle configurations. Operate with broad authority across the program and drive issues to closure regardless of functional ownership. Basic
Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Electrical Engineering, or related field. 8+ years of hands-on hardware design, testing, and support Demonstrated project management and communication skillset across 100+ organizations Demonstrated capability to evaluate system-level risk and develop test strategies aligned with and approved by the customer. Preferred Skills and Experience System integration and test for electromechanical hardware and software Flight vehicle test experience, first flights, rockets Deep ownership mindset – reliably deliver extreme outcomes Other Duties Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or
responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties,
responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
Benefits And
Perks All full-time employees are granted meaningful long-term equity, sharing in the company's significant growth trajectory. We offer four (4) weeks of paid time off, ten (10) company-paid holidays, and comprehensive health
benefits - including 100% employee-covered medical and strong dependent coverage, along with dental and vision plans. We also provide paid parental leave to support growing families, a $100 monthly fitness stipend to promote health and performance, and onsite EV charging for convenience. In addition, employees enjoy
perks like catered meals, company-covered food during high-demand periods, and a fully stocked kitchen to stay fueled throughout the day. While this position does not currently require a U.S government-issued security clearance, it may in the near future. Therefore, the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government–issued security clearance is required. U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance. Affirmative Action/EEO Statement Employment with Castelion is governed on the basis of competence and
qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.
Castelion is a modern defense production company building long-range hypersonic strike systems to address a critical national security gap. Founded in 2021, Castelion was created in response to the recognized need for the United States to rapidly develop hypersonic capabilities to remain competitive with near-peer adversaries and deter future conflicts.
The company operates under the philosophy of "Peace through Deterrence" — building the weapons systems that ensure conflicts never need to happen. Castelion is one of the few companies in the hypersonics space that has moved beyond concepts to actual production deliverables, with government contracts across multiple branches of the military and a $23M+ Navy order for 50 units in calendar year 2027.
Backed by over $469M in funding from top-tier investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and General Catalyst, Castelion is scaling rapidly. The company is building what it anticipates will become the preeminent hypersonics campus in the country — including a $150M, 1,000-acre solid rocket motor manufacturing facility in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, alongside its headquarters in Torrance, California.
Castelion's culture is defined by technical excellence, ownership, and velocity. Engineers own meaningful subsystems on the vehicle and are responsible for driving their success. The company follows a responsible engineering model inspired by SpaceX, where individuals choose the highest-value work and are empowered to cultivate resources and partnerships to deliver results. The engineering bar is exceptionally high — attracting elite talent who want to be surrounded by other elite talent.
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Location
Torrance, California
Experience
8+ years
Total raised
$464.0M
Last stage
Growth
Investors
No applications, no recruiter spam. Just the intro.
A few questions to make sure this role is the right shape for you. Two minutes.
I write the intro, send it to the founder, and handle the back-and-forth.
If they’re a yes, I book the chat. You show up — that’s the whole job-hunt.