Sr. Battery Engineer at Cowboy Space in San Carlos, CA

The Role

We're looking for a Battery Engineer to own the design, development, integration, and qualification of our spacecraft battery systems. You'll be responsible for developing reliable, high-performance energy storage solutions that power the spacecraft through eclipse periods, peak load events, and critical mission operations.

This is a hands-on individual contributor role for an engineer who enjoys taking battery systems from concept through flight. You'll work closely with power electronics, avionics, thermal, mechanical, and software engineers to develop flight-ready battery hardware capable of operating safely and reliably in the harsh environment of space.

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture and development of spacecraft batteries from concept through flight qualification
• Design battery packs, module architectures, and electrical interconnects (e.g., laser welding, wire bonding, busbar design) to meet mission performance requirements, including series/parallel cell configuration trade-offs
• Develop a battery management system (BMS), including cell balancing (passive and active balancing techniques), state-of-charge (SOC) and state-of-health (SOH) estimation (coulomb counting, OCV-based, and model-based/Kalman filtering approaches), fault detection, and protection strategies (overvoltage, undervoltage, overcurrent, overtemperature, cell imbalance)
• Select battery cell chemistries and components (e.g., NMC, NCA, LFP, or primary Li-CFx for long-duration/low-power missions) based on mission requirements, specific energy/power trade-offs, cycle life, reliability, and environmental constraints
• Perform battery sizing, capacity analysis, degradation modeling (capacity fade, impedance growth), depth-of-discharge (DoD) management for cycle life targets, and lifecycle assessments
• Develop battery charging and discharge strategies in partnership with the spacecraft power systems team, including coordination with solar array power management (MPPT vs. direct energy transfer) and peak-load discharge current limiting
• Define thermal management requirements and collaborate with thermal engineers to ensure safe battery operation, including thermal runaway propagation mitigation (cell-to-cell spacing, thermal barriers, venting design) and cold-survival heater strategy
• Lead battery integration, validation, environmental qualification, and acceptance testing, including vibration/shock (per GEVS/NASA-STD-7001 or ECSS equivalents), thermal vacuum cycling (TVAC), vacuum outgassing (ASTM E595), and abuse testing (overcharge, short circuit, crush, penetration, thermal abuse)
• Investigate battery performance, reliability, and failure modes through analysis and testing, including root-cause failure analysis and corrective action development
• Support manufacturing, supplier selection, DFM/DFT reviews, cell matching/sorting processes, weld quality inspection (including X-ray/CT inspection for internal defects), and production readiness
• Support spacecraft integration, launch campaigns, and on-orbit battery performance monitoring and trending

Basic Qualifications

• BS, MS, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, or a related discipline
• 3+ years developing battery systems for aerospace, automotive, defense, or other high-reliability applications
• Experience designing battery packs and energy storage systems, including cell/module/pack architecture and electrical interconnect design
• Knowledge of lithium-ion battery chemistry (NMC, NCA, LFP), degradation mechanisms, and safety considerations
• Experience developing or integrating Battery Management Systems (BMS), including cell balancing, SOC/SOH estimation, and fault protection architectures
• Experience with battery testing, characterization, and validation, including cycle life testing, performance characterization across temperature, and abuse/safety testing
• Familiarity with battery modeling (equivalent circuit models or electrochemical models), lifecycle analysis, and performance prediction
• Strong analytical and hands-on hardware debugging skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing spacecraft or satellite battery systems
• Experience with radiation effects on battery systems and space-qualified components
• Experience with battery thermal modeling and thermal runaway mitigation, including coupled thermal-electrochemical simulation (e.g., COMSOL)
• Knowledge of NASA, ECSS, or aerospace battery qualification and safety standards (e.g., MSFC-STD-3012 lithium-ion battery safety guidelines, AFSPCMAN 91-710 range safety requirements, GEVS/NASA-STD-7001 environmental verification, ECSS-E-ST-20-01)
• Experience supporting vibration, shock, thermal vacuum, and environmental testing campaigns
• Experience with battery safety analysis including FMEA, fault tree analysis (FTA), and hazard assessments, along with familiarity with abuse/safety test standards (UN 38.3, IEC 62133, UL 1642/2054)
• Familiarity with MATLAB/Simulink, Python, or equivalent tools for battery modeling, SOC/SOH algorithm development, and analysis
• Experience with isolated cell monitoring architectures and BMS IC platforms (e.g., isoSPI daisy-chain architectures common in EV/aerospace battery stacks)
• Experience supporting battery hardware from prototype through flight, including launch campaign support and on-orbit anomaly investigation

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $167,000 - $230,000 annually. The actual base salary offered will depend on factors such as job-related skills, experience, qualifications, and internal equity.

• Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.
• Employees and their eligible dependents may enroll in medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) retirement savings plan
• Paid time off
• 10 paid holidays per calendar year
• Paid parental leave
• Relocation assistance if applicable
• Daily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks

ITAR Requirements

• Export Control Requirement: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about ITAR here.

Disclaimer

This job description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the job and position. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or all-inclusive listing of duties and responsibilities. Contents are subject to change at Cowboy Space Corp.’s discretion.

Cowboy Space Corp. is an equal employment opportunity employer. We consider individuals for employment or promotion according to their skills, abilities and experience. Cowboy Space Corp. is committed to complying with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religious creed, age, national origin, ancestry, physical, mental or developmental disability, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and medical conditions relating to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), veteran status, military status, marital or registered domestic partnership status, medical condition (including cancer or genetic characteristics), genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, as well as any other category protected by federal, state or local laws.