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Apex manufactures satellite buses at scale for the commercial space industry, combining software, vertical integration, and hardware designed for manufacturing. The company enables earth observation, communications, and other space-based applications.
You will own the end-to-end design, development, qualification, and production of Hall-effect thrusters for Apex's electric propulsion systems. This is a senior individual contributor role with significant technical ownership and leadership scope. You will drive key Hall thruster design decisions, lead test and life-qualification campaigns, and work alongside propulsion engineers as the company scales electric propulsion production.
Key responsibilities include:
- Own end-to-end design and development of Hall-effect thrusters, including discharge channel geometry, magnetic circuit design, anode and gas distributor design, and thermal-mechanical packaging.
- Develop plasma physics and performance models to drive thruster design, covering ionization and acceleration behavior, magnetic field topology, efficiency, thrust-to-power, and specific impulse across the operating envelope.
- Define and execute thruster test and life-qualification campaigns, including performance mapping, plume characterization, thermal testing, oscillation and stability characterization, wear testing, and long-duration life testing in vacuum facilities.
- Develop erosion, degradation, and life models for the discharge channel and pole pieces, demonstrating compliance with mission life and propulsion budgets.
- Drive cathode-thruster coupling and overall electric propulsion system integration in partnership with cathode, propellant feed-system, and power processing unit owners.
- Select materials and processes, including ceramics, magnetic materials, and refractory metals, and qualify them for spaceflight and scalable production.
- Optimize thruster designs for performance, mass, cost, manufacturability, and repeatability; develop work instructions, process flows, and assembly, integration, and test procedures required to build at rate.
- Partner with systems, power electronics, thermal, structures, and avionics teams to define interfaces and verify requirements.
- Support build, integration, and test of flight hardware, as well as launch campaigns, on-orbit performance evaluation, and anomaly resolution.
- Lead failure analysis, root-cause investigations, and continuous design improvements to support future builds and scalable production.
- Provide technical mentorship to propulsion engineers and contribute to the continued development of Apex's Hall thruster and electric propulsion capability.
Apex is a fast-growing startup that has raised more than $500M in funding. The company offers equity, comprehensive healthcare (100% company-paid medical, dental, vision), 15+ days vacation growing to 20+ days annually, 10 paid holidays, 401(k) matching (100% on first 3%, 50% on next 2%), 8 weeks paid parental leave, daily catered lunch, and a world-class Playa Vista office with flexibility for in-person collaboration.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, plasma/propulsion engineering, applied physics, or related field.
- 6+ years of relevant electric propulsion experience with a Bachelor's or Master's degree, OR a Ph.D. in electric propulsion, plasma physics, applied physics, or closely related field with 3+ years of relevant industry experience. Substantial and demonstrable focus on Hall-effect thruster design, development, and testing required.
- Deep, hands-on knowledge of Hall thruster physics and design, including discharge channel design, magnetic circuit layout, anode and gas distribution, cathode coupling, and thermal management.
- Experience planning and executing Hall thruster or electric propulsion test campaigns in vacuum facilities, including plasma/plume diagnostics, performance measurement, and life/wear testing.
- Strong understanding of failure and degradation mechanisms that drive Hall thruster life, including channel and pole erosion, thermal limits, and discharge instabilities, and how to design and test against them.
- Working knowledge of spacecraft propulsion system architecture, propellant feed systems, and power processing unit interaction.
- Experience owning hardware through design, development, build, and test.
- Ability to decompose requirements and interface control documents and communicate clearly across engineering disciplines.
- Must be a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual) as defined by ITAR (22 CFR §120.15).
Nice to have: Direct experience taking a Hall thruster from development through flight qualification and on-orbit operation; experience with magnetically shielded, wall-less, and/or unshielded Hall thruster architectures; experience with alternative propellants including krypton and non-xenon electric propulsion propellants; familiarity with Hall thruster plasma simulation tools (particle-in-cell and hybrid codes) and magnetic finite-element analysis; familiarity with power processing unit/thruster drive electronics and power interface definition; design-for-manufacturing experience bringing propulsion hardware into serial or high-rate production; experience with electric propulsion environmental qualification including vibration, thermal-vacuum, and electromagnetic interference testing; experience supporting failure investigations and resolving issues on flight or qualification hardware.
