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Xona Space Systems is seeking an Electrical Engineer to join the satellite development team. You will design, develop, and integrate electrical systems that power and control spacecraft propulsion systems, working collaboratively across subsystems from concept through flight.
This is a hands-on role where you will lead electrical hardware design, lab testing, and debugging across low-to-high voltage subsystems. Your responsibilities include:
- Design and develop electrical subsystems for propulsion electronics, including embedded microcontroller hardware, sensor interfaces, valve drivers, and power conversion circuits.
- Lead schematic capture and multi-layer PCB layout design from breadboard prototypes through flight-qualified hardware.
- Design, tune, and validate DC/DC converters and driver stages for inductive and resistive loads.
- Implement precision analog front-ends for critical telemetry, including current sensing (high-side/low-side), pressure transducers, and temperature monitoring.
- Collaborate with embedded firmware engineers to define hardware/firmware interfaces, peripheral pin mappings, register maps, and communication protocols (CAN, SPI, I2C, UART, RS-422).
- Conduct hardware design and layout reviews; support component sourcing while ensuring compliance with standards and derating guidelines.
- Develop and execute electrical test plans from breadboard to flight hardware, writing Python scripts for test automation and data logging.
- Troubleshoot and debug electrical systems in a lab environment using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, electronic dynamic loads, and power meters.
- Develop electrical interface documentation (ICDs) and test procedures for spacecraft subsystems.
- Support assembly, integration, and test (AIT) activities, including environmental testing (TVAC, vibration, EMI/EMC).
You will work alongside firmware and power electronics engineers and collaborate closely with propulsion and avionics teams to ensure hardware reliability in harsh space environments.
REQUIREMENTS:
- B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field.
- 2+ years taking mixed-signal designs from schematics to manufacturing and lab bring-up.
- Familiarity with electrical design and simulation tools (Altium, KiCad, SPICE).
- Fundamental understanding of mixed-signal electronics, power tree design, power conversion, signal integrity, and hardware reliability in harsh space environments.
- Hands-on experience designing embedded microcontroller hardware and peripheral interfaces (CAN, SPI, I2C, UART, RS-422).
- Experience designing driver circuits for inductive loads (valves, valve drivers, solenoids) and closed-loop DC/DC converters.
- Strong background in precision sensor acquisition and analog signal conditioning (op-amps, filtering, ADC/DAC interfacing).
- Hands-on experience with electrical testing, debugging (oscilloscopes, dynamic loads, power meters), and Python test scripting.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Exposure to satellite systems, avionics, or electrical power systems.
- Experience with space environmental testing (TVAC, vibration, EMI/EMC per MIL-STD-461) and component derating standards (NASA EEE-INST-002).
- Experience developing hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulators.
- Familiarity with reading embedded C/C++ to collaborate with firmware engineers during low-level driver bring-up and boundary-scan debugging.
- High-voltage power electronics experience.
Note: U.S. citizenship, lawful permanent resident status, or other protected individual status as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3) is required to comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations.
