Power Electronics Engineer

An El Segundo based space technology company is hiring a Power Electronics Engineer to design the electrical power systems at the heart of its hardware, and to carry that work from early concept all the way through to flight. Space or satellite power experience is highly valued. Strong converter design and analysis skills matter more than a specific background, because the work is about building power hardware that has to work for years with no chance of a repair.

In this role you will design the circuits that take energy from solar arrays and batteries and deliver clean, regulated power to every load on the vehicle. Your scope covers DC-DC converters, point of load regulators, battery charge and discharge control, solar array regulation, and power distribution and protection. You will select topologies, design magnetics, choose radiation tolerant components with proper derating, and simulate each design before committing to hardware. Because nothing gets serviced in orbit, the work carries a heavy emphasis on analysis and proof: worst case circuit analysis, stress and thermal analysis, EMI design to standards such as MIL-STD-461, and testing through thermal vacuum and environmental campaigns. You will spend real time at the bench bringing up prototypes and flight hardware, and work closely with systems, PCB, and mechanical engineers from design through integration and test. This is a hands-on individual contributor role for someone who has taken power electronics designs from concept through to qualified hardware before. It suits an engineer who likes hard constraints and takes pride in hardware that simply has to work.

This is a full time position based in El Segundo, California. Full time onsite role, so candidates should already live within commuting distance. The base salary range for this position is $145,000 to $185,000 per year, depending on experience. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full time basis without employer sponsorship, now or in the future. This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design DC-DC converters, point of load regulators, and power distribution circuits for space power systems.
• Develop battery charge and discharge control and solar array regulation, including MPPT approaches.
• Select converter topologies such as buck, boost, flyback, forward, and LLC, and design the associated magnetics.
• Choose radiation tolerant and high reliability components and apply derating rules.
• Simulate circuits in tools such as LTspice, PSpice, SIMetrix, or PLECS before building hardware.
• Carry out worst case circuit analysis, stress analysis, and thermal analysis.
• Design for EMI and EMC compliance and support testing to standards such as MIL-STD-461.
• Bring up, test, and debug prototype and flight hardware in the lab.
• Support integration, thermal vacuum, and environmental testing of power subsystems.
• Produce design documentation, analysis reports, and test records, and take part in design reviews.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field.
• 5 to 10 years of hands-on power electronics design experience.
• Strong understanding of switching converter topologies, control loops, and magnetics design.
• Proven track record taking power electronics designs from concept through simulation, prototype, test, and release.
• Experience with design verification, including worst case or stress analysis.
• Practical knowledge of EMI and EMC design techniques.
• Confidence at the bench with oscilloscopes, electronic loads, power analyzers, and frequency response analyzers.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work closely with systems, PCB, and mechanical engineers.

Nice to Have:

• Space, satellite, or launch vehicle power system experience.
• Experience with radiation effects and radiation tolerant design.
• Wide bandgap devices such as GaN or SiC.
• Digital control of power converters.