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Staff Electrical Architect, Space Products

Astra

Astra

IT, Other Engineering
Sunnyvale, CA, USA
Posted on Wednesday, February 1, 2023
The Company
Astra’s mission is to Improve Life on Earth from Space® by creating a healthier and more connected planet. Today, Astra offers one of the lowest cost-per-launch dedicated orbital launch services of any operational launch provider in the world, and one of the industry’s first flight-proven electric propulsion systems for satellites, Astra Spacecraft Engine™. Astra delivered its first commercial launch to low Earth orbit in 2021, making it the fastest company in history to reach this milestone, just five years after it was founded in 2016. Astra (NASDAQ: ASTR) was the first space launch company to be publicly traded on Nasdaq.
The Team
The space products engineering team is producing low-cost, reliable, highly efficient, Hall-effect thruster propulsion systems for modern satellites and spacecraft. Our thrusters will be used in Low Earth Orbit, Medium Earth Orbit, Geostationary Orbit, Lunar missions, and beyond. The team includes talented engineers who have designed and launched into orbit over 1,000 satellites over the course of their careers. Comprehensive design, prototype production, qualification, and acceptance tests are conducted within our Alameda, Mountain View and new Sunnyvale facilities.
The Opportunity
You will work with an interdisciplinary team of electrical engineers, systems engineers, propulsion engineers, mechanical engineers, and technicians to bring designs to life. This position will serve as the Electrical Architect for the Space Products group. New programs come in frequently. You will be a primary contributor on a team that develops new systems/modules and launches them into orbit.

How You'll Fulfill Your Mission

  • Use your high-volume electronics experience to take Astra’s space products to the next level of design for manufacturing, cost, and scale
  • Take ownership over the system architecture, requirements and performance specifications for multiple Space Products electrical components and systems
  • Perform work at all levels: able to see the big picture while also applying first principles, always pushing the team to push to higher levels of engineering rigor
  • Architect next generation power electronics and control systems for electric propulsion and other space applications
  • Perform analyses and tests to qualify existing and new designs for a wide range of space environments and missions
  • Define strategy for qualifying both rad-hard and commercial COTS components and systems
  • Define parts derating strategy and supporting analysis and test
  • Perform Worst-Case Analysis
  • Define and support EMI/EMC/ESD tests
  • Mentor electrical, harness, firmware and software engineers

Qualifications

  • 8+ years of experience in electrical system architecture and design, component design, and system level integration and testing for space applications
  • Experience with requirements management in Jama, DOORS, or equivalent
  • Experience defining power and grounding schemes
  • Experience with analog and low power circuit design
  • Experience with DC-DC converters
  • Experience with PCB layout in Altium or equivalent
  • Experience with programming in C/C++/Python and/or MATLAB
  • Simulation experience in spice and hyperlynx or equivalent
  • Experience with highly-reliable autonomous systems, with a deep appreciation of the complexity and tradeoffs of a functional quality management program (requirements, V&V, configuration management, regulatory, standards)
  • The desire and aptitude to get your hands dirty by jumping in to help troubleshoot an issue, review or iterate a schematic, build a test harness, or write a test script
  • You can critically analyze problems and are excited by new design challenges
  • You are self-motivated and have excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related field

Desired Multipliers

  • Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related field
  • You have 12+ years of professional experience in electrical system design and / or architecture
  • Technical leadership or management experience
  • Experience with startups, wearing-multiple-hats, and agile product development methodologies
  • Experience with power electronics
  • Experience with design for low noise and minimization of EMI / EMC, including conducted and radiated emissions analysis and testing
  • Proficient with embedded software development, Linux scripting, and octave/matlab
  • Experience with the Atlassian suite, most importantly Jira, and Confluence
ITAR Requirements: This position requires compliance with U.S. Government space technology trade restrictions, specifically the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and additional regulations governing satellite, launch vehicle, missile, and other related technologies. All jobs restricted by these regulations will be contingent upon the applicant’s status as a documented U.S. Person or their ability to receive a trade license from the cognizant government agency; in addition to any required company background checks and in compliance with applicable U.S. and California laws. Similarly, positions requiring the ability to work on government contracts or a security clearance are also contingent upon the applicants ability to receive the appropriate clearance and be allowed to work on U.S. government contracts.
You do not need to match every listed expectation to apply for this position. Here at Astra, we know that diverse perspectives foster the innovation we need to be successful, and we are committed to building a team that encompasses a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.
San Francisco Applicants: Astra will consider applicants with arrest and conviction records (criminal histories) in a manner consistent with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.