Principal Controls Engineering Architect

Pulse Space; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Pulse Space in Seattle is seeking a Principal Controls Engineering Architect to own end-to-end control systems for spacecraft and payloads. You will measure the plant, model it in Simulink, design the controller, prototype on real hardware, and validate performance for flight implementations.

You will lead a growing team of controls engineers, collaborating with GNC, FPGA, opto-mechanics, and verification, producing porting guides and test reports to ensure flight readiness.

Qualifications

• Taken a control design from bench to real-time prototype and flight-ready hardware.
• Simulink modeling from measured data with rapid-prototyping targets.
• Proficient in C/C++ or HDL to validate designs.
• Strong technical writing for specs, trade studies, and interfaces.
• Able to coordinate across GNC, FPGA, opto-mechanics, and vendors.

Responsibilities

• Instrument hardware and collect sensor data in the lab.
• Build plant models in Simulink from measured data.
• Run open- and closed-loop simulations for pointing and stability.
• Prototype controllers on rapid-prototyping targets and validate against the plant.
• Define pointing requirements with the opto-mechanical team.
• Write sensor and beam-steering specifications and evaluate vendors.
• Size CPU, memory, I/O, and FPGA resources.
• Write proof-of-concept code in C/C++ or HDL.
• Support design verification tests and flight code development.
• Drive trade studies across GNC, FPGA/compute, opto-mechanics, and vendors.

Skills

Simulink

C/C++

HDL

Technical writing

Cross-team collab

Education

MS/PhD in aerospace

Tools

Speedgoat

dSPACE

Job description

Principal Controls Engineering Architect

Spacecraft & Payload Systems

Pulse develops laser-based systems for space. We need someone who owns controls end to end: you measure the plant, model it, design the controller, prototype it on real hardware, prove it works, and stay responsible for it through flight implementation.

You are the first dedicated controls engineer, but you will not work alone. The engineering team is principal-level across disciplines, with flight heritage from previous programs. You will lean on their expertise daily, and they will lean on yours. As the company grows, you will hire and lead the controls engineers who join you.

The systems are spacecraft and payload: GNC, beam steering, sensor integration, open- and closed-loop pointing, spacecraft dynamics, and high-precision payload stability. The accuracy and jitter requirements are at the edge of what current sensors and actuators can do.

Technical writing is as important as analysis. Design documents, trade studies, interface specifications, porting guides, and test reports are deliverables here.

This role requires U.S. citizenship and willingness to obtain a security clearance.

If your background covers most of what is below, but not all of it, apply anyway. Maybe you have done spacecraft GNC but not optical payloads, or you have prototyped on real-time targets but never written the porting guide. We would rather talk to someone with the right instincts than wait for a perfect match.

In this role, you will

• Instrument the hardware and collect sensor data in the lab.
• Build plant models from that data in Simulink, working alongside mechanical engineers who own the structural dynamics.
• Run open- and closed-loop simulations for LOS jitter, coarse and fine pointing, and spacecraft stability.
• Prototype controllers on rapid-prototyping targets such as Speedgoat, dSPACE, or similar platforms and validate them against the physical plant. Converge simulation and bench results before flight-code implementation.
• Define pointing requirements for optical payloads with the opto-mechanical team, including coarse steering, fine steering, and handoff between the two.
• Write specifications for sensors and beam-steering hardware. Evaluate vendor offerings against performance budgets and manage those vendors through delivery.
• Size the implementation, including CPU, memory, I/O, and FPGA resources. Give the embedded and FPGA teams real numbers early.
• Write proof-of-concept C/C++ or HDL. Flight code is a plus but not required. What matters is a working starting point and a porting guide the next engineer can act on.
• Support design verification engineers as they test against requirements. Formal verification is theirs; the performance knowledge is yours.
• Drive trade studies and control strategy decisions across GNC, FPGA/compute, opto-mechanics, mechanical engineering, verification, and vendor teams.

What you bring

• You have taken a control design from bench measurement through real-time prototype to verified performance on hardware that shipped or flew.
• Simulink experience for plant modeling from measured data and hands-on experience with rapid-prototyping targets, or similar platforms for closing loops on real hardware.
• Enough C/C++ or HDL to prove a design works and size the resources it needs.
• Clear technical writing. Trade studies, porting guides, design rationale, interface specifications, and test reports should be usable by the engineers who act on them.
• You work across teams without waiting to be introduced: GNC, mechanical, opto-mechanical, FPGA, embedded, verification, and vendors.
• MS or PhD in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, or Systems Engineering preferred; exceptional equivalent industry experience considered.
• 10+ years of experience in spacecraft or high-precision payload control.

What will set you apart

• Direct experience with LOS jitter suppression or beam-steering control for optical payloads.
• You have selected and placed sensors for spaceflight, including star trackers, IMUs, gyros, and accelerometers, and owned the performance consequences of those choices.
• Requirements you wrote made it through formal verification on a flight program.
• You have hired controls engineers and built a team around the discipline.