Principal Electrical Engineer

The Mission

New companies, spacecraft and technologies are needing greater capabilities in smaller packages, pointing systems and mechanisms that weren’t needed before. This is where Propel Space thrives. Propel Space is developing miniaturized, low-cost and low lead time mechanisms that provide customers greater maneuverability, dexterity, and functionality that increases their own missions. We’re filling the supply chain gap for this hardware to enable the next generation of industry transforming spacecraft.

Propel Space also takes the design functionality of our own products and enables new and unique bespoke mechanism solutions to meet specific customer needs at lower costs and lead times. The next wave of AI datacenters on orbit, refueling vehicles, servicing, inspection, re-entry systems, they all need reliable mechanisms to give them an edge within the industry. Propel Space is that edge.

The Opportunity

We are seeking an exceptional Principal Electrical Engineer to take end-to-end ownership of in-house  electrical systems and driving moving hardware; not just their design, but their operational performance through launch and on-orbit.

Real flight hardware that works is the role. Whether the electrical hardware controls what has to deploy, actuate, separate, releases, or point, this role is intended to make systems that survive and operate in the harsh realities of spaceflight. Documentation and analysis will support that mission, but the ultimate measure of success is hardware that works reliably in the real world.

You will deliver robust, mechanism drive electronics capable of full mission operation. The role spans electronics controlling deployable systems, hinges, latches, release systems, actuators, gimbals, booms, thermal-mechanical interfaces, test equipment, and whatever else is required to make the mechanisms function as needed.

This is a unique opportunity to:

• Own mechanism drive electronics from first concept through on-orbit operations
• Design drive electronics flight hardware that works with deployment systems, actuators, interfaces, and mechanical subsystems for numerous mechanism products and customer solutions
• Debug real hardware failures and rapidly close the loop through redesign and iteration
• Participate directly in build, integration, environmental testing and on-orbit operations
• Work in a rapid hardware development environment where designs quickly become flight articles

The Role

You are the responsible engineer for electronics that drive moving hardware that flies. When the vehicle is on the pad, or on-orbit, you own how your systems behave.

• Design electronics PCBAs for spacecraft including architecture, component selection, circuit board design, board bring up and debugging
• Managing trade studies, supplier strategy, and ownership of design/build/deploy schedules, milestones, and blockers
• Defining functional requirements, derating strategies, functional limits, tolerances, life-cycle behavior, and failure modes of electrical systems
• Leading build and integration activities and resolving real-time hardware issues
• Qualify your designs through environmental testing including vibration, shock, thermal, and thermal vacuum testing
• Owning hardware through manufacturing, assembly, integration, test, and on-orbit
• Work with internal and external stakeholders to integrate your designs into the spacecraft systems and operate your hardware in flight
• Managing interfaces between drive electronics and mechanisms as well as spacecraft interfaces
• Iterating hardware based on test and flight data to improve reliability, operability, and turnaround time
• Develop test equipment, development PCBAs, and test scripts to assist with all of the above

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, computer science, computer engineering, or related science, technology, engineering, or mathematics field
• 8 years of experience designing and testing electronics PCBAs in a fast-paced environment
• Hands-on experience designing, building, integrating, and troubleshooting electrical systems
• An emphasis for prototyping hardware solutions to find the ways NOT to develop a system
• Ability to operate effectively in fast build-test-iterate environments
• Demonstrated ownership of hardware through environmental testing and flight operations
• Strong first principles and intuition for electrical system behavior, power cycles, in-rush mitigations, EMI/EMC understanding and mitigation, and failure modes under real operating conditions
• Systems engineering mentality understanding impacts with, or from, thermal, mechanical, software controls and other flight like impacts and environments
• Experience designing motor driver electronics for mechanisms, deployment systems, latching systems, hinges, release devices, or actuation systems
• Experience with digital processors, FPGAs, and memory chips
• Working with PDM, PLM and testing tools and systems
• Assembly instruction development along with test documentation generation

Desired Experience

• Experience designing analog control loops, solid state load switches, motor inverters, EMI/EMC compliance, or sensor signal conditioning circuits
• Experience with digital processors, FPGAs, and memory chips
• Proficient with circuit simulation tools such as LTspice
• Experience with component selection for use in radiation environments
• Radiation understanding, design architectures for LEO, MEO and GEO environments, how to test the different radiation environments
• Knowledge of filter design for stability, noise rejection, and surviving threat signals
• Experience with load switch design and power path protection schemes
• Experience programming in C/C , Python, or Matlab

Compensation And Benefits

Base salary range for this role is $150,000 - $180,000 equity in the company

• Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level
• Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks

If you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply! Building spacecraft mechanisms requires a team unlike any other and non-traditional career twists and turns are encouraged!

Export Compliance

As defined in the ITAR, “U.S. Persons” include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a “U.S. Person.”

The person hired for this role will have access to information and items controlled by U.S. export control regulations, including the export control regulations outlined in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR). The person hired for this role must therefore either be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R.