Electrical Design Engineer (Raptor Avionics) at SpaceX · Hawthorne

Summary: SpaceX is a company focused on developing technologies for human exploration of Mars. They are seeking an Electrical Design Engineer for the Raptor Avionics team, responsible for delivering electrical control and sensing hardware for the Raptor rocket engine, with a focus on the product life cycle from design to launch. Responsibilities: - Design new hardware, redesign existing hardware, and perform modifications to PCBAs to improve their reliability and manufacturability or expand vehicle capabilities - Provide extreme ownership of avionics hardware for flight across all areas of the product life cycle - Drive changes to electrical schematics and mechanical drawings that improve reliability and manufacturability - Perform root cause investigations to characterize off-nominal unit behavior and mitigate risk - Derive engineering justification to resolve production issues throughout assembly, test, and vehicle integration - Design test setups and execute hardware validation through benchtop and environmental testing Required Qualifications: - Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or computer engineering - 1+ years professional experience designing electronics - Extended hours and weekend work may be required to support critical project and mission milestones Preferred Qualifications: - Passion for spaceflight and demonstrated experience designing high quality electronics for high reliability applications - Experience developing new hardware, not just incremental updates - Experience working through system trades, pushing back on requirements, and following through with verification and validation - Self-starter with demonstrated experience on multiple projects making hardware work within demanding time and resource constraints - High level of proficiency with designing signal conditioning circuits, digital circuits, and switching power converters, as demonstrated by successful fielding of multiple products - Proficiency with schematic capture and board layout, producing clean and maintainable designs, preferably in Altium or Circuit Maker - Knowledge of digital communications interfaces including SPI, I2C, CAN, Ethernet, and RS422 - Knowledge of common circuit blocks including filters, power supplies, and microcontrollers - High level of proficiency with circuit simulation tools and formal analysis methods, such as derating and worst-case circuit analysis - High level of proficiency with lab equipment for development testing of circuits and components, including sophisticated test definition, troubleshooting, data collection, and data reduction techniques - Proficient at board level rework in support of development testing - Solid working knowledge of EMI/EMC underlying physics and specifications, along with best practices for design, and strategies for addressing test exceedances - Experience producing high rate designs which are optimized for manufacturability and cost - Proficiency writing software for test automation, data review, and design analysis, preferably in MATLAB or Python - Cross functional project management skills and ability to collaborate with other engineering disciplines, as demonstrated on multiple programs - Excellent verbal and written communication skills Required Skills: Electrical engineering, Electronics design, PCB design, Signal conditioning circuits, Digital circuits, Switching power converters, Schematic capture, Board layout, Altium, Circuit Maker, Digital communications interfaces, SPI, I2C, CAN, Ethernet, RS422, Circuit simulation, Derating analysis, Worst-case circuit analysis, Lab equipment usage, Circuit troubleshooting, Data collection, Data reduction, Board level rework, EMI/EMC design, Manufacturability optimization, Cost optimization, Test automation software, MATLAB, Python, Cross functional project management Benefits: Long-term incentives, in the form of company stock, stock options, or long-term cash awards, Potential discretionary bonuses, Ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan, Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, Access to a 401(k) retirement plan, Short and long-term disability insurance, Life insurance, Paid parental leave, Various other discounts and perks, 3 weeks of paid vacation, 10 or more paid holidays per year, Paid sick leave pursuant to Company policy