Electric Propulsion Engineer: Own RF Thruster Design & Test

United States Digital Space LLC; Reading; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Visa sponsorship

Relocation support

Equity stake

Private health insurance

Annual health check-ups

Job summary

Space is seeking an Electric Propulsion Engineer to own the design of our RF gridded ion thruster, from concept to flight configuration, for the NEO-1 and future platforms.

You will build test rigs, run campaigns, analyze results, and collaborate with mechanical, electrical and control engineers to push iterations toward flight-ready hardware.

On-site work with one remote day per week is available; visa sponsorship and relocation support are offered.

Qualifications

• Strong knowledge of RF gridded ion thrusters, including RF plasma generation and ion optics.
• Hands-on propulsion testing experience with RF generators and high-voltage power supplies.
• Experience with vacuum systems, data acquisition and diagnostic tools.
• Solid grounding in plasma physics, modelling and ionisation processes.
• Willingness to design, build and test own hardware and work extended on-site.

Responsibilities

• Own the design of RF gridded ion thruster and performance calculations from concept to flight configuration.
• Iterate rapidly to support NEO-1 and customer thruster deliveries.
• Collaborate with mechanical, electrical and control engineers on each iteration of the propulsion system.
• Design and build test rigs and equipment for propulsion testing.
• Assemble and operate test hardware, electronics and vacuum facilities.
• Run propulsion tests and analyze results to drive design changes.
• Plan and run test campaigns and document configurations with traceable results.

Skills

RF gridded ion thrusters

Electric propulsion testing

Vacuum systems

Plasma physics

Hardware design

Python/MATLAB scripting

Tools

Python

MATLAB

Job description

Space is seeking an Electric Propulsion Engineer to own the design of our RF gridded ion thruster, from concept to flight configuration, for the NEO-1 and future platforms.

You will build test rigs, run campaigns, analyze results, and collaborate with mechanical, electrical and control engineers to push iterations toward flight-ready hardware.

On-site work with one remote day per week is available; visa sponsorship and relocation support are offered.