Senior Power Systems Engineer

Vast is looking for a Senior Power Systems Engineer, reporting to the Senior Manager, Avionics and Power Systems, to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of high power satellites.

This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location.

Responsibilities:

• Own the satellite power system end to end, including architectural trades, functional and technical interface definitions (hardware and software), hierarchical requirements specification, and verification and validation planning and execution
• Serve as the technical authority for the spacecraft power system. Own flight readiness assessment, disposition nonconformances and waivers against the power system, and hold final sign-off authority on power system configuration for launch
• Define ground and flight power modes and own the power budget. Build and defend first-principles energy balance models that size generation, storage, and margin across orbit geometries, eclipse profiles, and off-nominal modes to verify power positivity, and justify the model fidelity chosen for the decision being made
• Decompose system requirements into unit-level requirements at the circuit and functional level, covering parameters such as voltage and current ranges, regulation and ripple, efficiency, inrush and fault current limits, protection and isolation, margin, and derating. Define and execute the corresponding verification, including test setup, instrumentation, pass/fail criteria, and data review, and determine whether results actually close the requirement
• Drive power-relevant design decisions across mechanical, thermal, propulsion, GNC, and flight software. Capture system-level operating modes, constraints, and behaviors and drive their implementation on the power system; surface the questions others aren't asking, escalate unresolved interface conflicts, and secure convergence on the correct integrated design
• Partner with Responsible Engineers on component-level design and test approach, ensuring component specifications and acceptance criteria trace to system-level power requirements
• Perform system-level failure modes, effects, and criticality analyses to motivate reliability design and validation plans, and architect the resulting vehicle modes, autonomous behaviors, and fault responses
• Work closely with Satellite Vehicle Lead to manage power system deliverables and execute spacecraft-level integration and test. Evaluate vehicle health, perform real-time troubleshooting, and drive root-cause analysis and corrective action
• Keep Power Systems designs consistent with modular platform engineering principles across programs. Maintain system designs, processes, and validation techniques, and feed recurring issues back into design to improve reliability and streamline production
• Own all aspects of documentation for the satellite power systems, ensuring that all trade decisions and ensuing technical specifications are fully documented

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, or other engineering discipline
• 5+ years of professional or project experience in spacecraft electrical systems design.
• Experience designing spacecraft power systems from initial requirements
• Experience with high voltage power systems above 100 V
• Experience with lifecycle development as it relates to space systems, including requirement definition, identifying design solutions, integration, validation and verification, qualification, and operation

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Experience with spacecraft power hardware, including lithium-ion battery systems, solar arrays and solar array drive assemblies, peak power tracking and regulation, and power distribution units
• Proficiency building energy balance and power budget models in Python, MATLAB/Simulink, or equivalent, including orbital illumination and eclipse analysis
• Understanding of electrical schematics and electronics manufacturing sufficient to analyze and improve test coverage
• Competence with electrical test equipment such as multimeters, oscilloscopes, network analyzers, and power supplies
• Experience with vehicle and instrumentation buses such as Ethernet, CAN, SPI, and I/O, as well as serial I/O (RS232/422/485)
• Experience designing electronics for the spaceflight environment and verifying workmanship and operability through environmental test, including random vibration, shock, thermal, burn-in, and TVAC
• Rigorous validation mindset. You are the person who asks "how do we know this is right?" and then builds the test to prove it
• Ability to make sound design and development decisions with incomplete data, weighing risk against competing multi-disciplinary requirements
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to convey technical topics to audiences of varying background and seniority
• Strong sense of accountability and integrity, with the organization and documentation discipline to work autonomously in a fast-paced environment

Additional Requirements:

• Ability to travel up to 10% travel to support launch campaigns
• Comfortable balancing several projects at any given time with the flexibility to adjust for abrupt changes in strategic direction
• Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones