Sr. Power Systems Engineer (Crew Starship Avionics)

SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars.

SR. POWER SYSTEMS ENGINEER (CREW STARSHIP AVIONICS)

Become a part of the Crew Starship Avionics team and support the mission to revolutionize orbital flight and space travel - opening access for humankind to establish new frontiers in space, and ultimately make humans a multi-planetary species.

The Crew Starship Avionics team has taken the challenge to develop avionics for the SpaceX Human Landing System, which will soon carry astronauts to the moon as part of NASA's Artemis program. Across all systems, from communications, to power, to life support, to navigation, and even creature comforts, our team's hardware will safely support astronauts on their lunar mission, while humanity looks on. This will be one of the most sophisticated and largest crewed vehicles flown in space, and will be developed at a cost and rate previously considered unthinkable in the space industry. Become a part of this fast moving and world class development team, working with super smart and motivated engineers, and achieve truly audacious goals. If you’re ready for a challenge and would like to help take humanity back to the moon then you’ve come to the right place!

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Act as responsible engineer for battery and solar array systems on Crew Starship vehicles
• Use first principles analysis backed by empirical test to define vehicle operational procedures, operating envelopes, degradation models, failure modes, limits for human and hardware safety, and field reliability models
• Provide a high level of communication and formal documentation for capabilities of the power system hardware, create and maintain relevant company standards, and demonstrate compliance to regulatory safety requirements
• Provide technical leadership across the organization, manage related risk and change across the program, drive new technology introduction, and provide mentoring for less senior engineers
• Act as primary point of contact with customers and experts from other teams to perform system trades, define vehicle architecture, and scope new designs as they move from concept, through prototype, and into production
• Identify, analyze and drive key performance metrics for power systems from concept to the field, and assess new designs to optimize manufacturability, quality, and cost
• Act as the system lead for power system projects, including creating, maintaining, and communicating schedules
• Act as liaison with NASA counterparts to provide technical insight, and lead creation of deliverables for Crew Starship milestones

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or physics
• 5+ years of experience with battery or solar array system design, analysis, integration, or testing

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Experience leading projects in spaceflight and high reliability power systems
• Experience owning system trades with first-hand knowledge of how to manage and validate requirements which tie hardware into larger systems
• Self-starter with solid track record of making systems work within demanding time and resource constraints
• Creative problem solver with strong first principle fundamentals across multiple disciplines and experience making risk and design decisions with incomplete data
• Hands-on experience with analysis and performance testing of battery and solar array system components
• Experience with relevant industry standards and best practice for high voltage and high current systems
• Solid understanding of battery chemistries, chemical processes, manufacturing methods, performance metrics, failure modes, and environmental limitations
• Solid understanding of solar array technology, manufacturing methods, stringing strategies, failure modes, and the interaction with the space environment
• Extensive experience with various analysis methods for battery and solar array hardware and systems
• Experience with NX or similar CAD design software
• Experience with Altium or similar PCBA design software
• Proficiency with electrical test equipment (multimeters, oscilloscopes, power supplies, etc.), and basic analysis techniques
• Experience writing engineering software for test automation, data review, and design analysis, preferably in MATLAB or Python
• Demonstrated project management skills and ability to collaborate with other engineering disciplines
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills