Senior Controls Engineer – Electro-mechanical Products Hardware

Front Door Defense; Longmont, Northern (CO, KY); Hybrid; USD 144,000 - 202,000; Full time

Job summary

Blue Origin is seeking a Senior Controls Engineer to lead the architecture, development, integration, and qualification of spacecraft attitude-control actuators and momentum-management systems. The role emphasizes Reaction Wheel Assemblies (RWAs), motor-control electronics, embedded flight software, FPGA development, and control algorithms.

The ideal candidate has 15+ years in reaction wheel systems for aerospace, with deep experience in controls modeling, motor drives, embedded systems, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Aerospace/Mechanical/Computer Engineering or related.
• 15+ years designing reaction wheel systems or related spacecraft actuators.
• Proven experience in control algorithms and real-time control systems.
• Extensive motor-control experience: PMSM/BLDC drives, FOC, SVPWM, current/torque control.
• Embedded systems design: hardware/software partitioning, timing, real-time execution.
• Experience with FPGA-based controls and embedded flight software development.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture, requirements, design, integration, and qualification of reaction wheels and momentum-control systems.
• Develop and refine control algorithms for reaction wheel applications and safe-mode behaviors.
• Design motor-control solutions for spacecraft actuators and power electronics.
• Develop real-time embedded control architectures and determine hardware partitioning.
• Oversee FPGA design and verification for motor-control and actuator systems.
• Lead embedded flight software development, including health monitoring and telemetry.

Skills

Embedded control systems

FPGA development

Real-time software

MATLAB/Simulink

C/C++ for embedded

Motor-control drives

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Aerospace/Mechanical/Computer Engineering

Advanced degree in Electrical/Aerospace/Controls

Tools

VHDL/Verilog

FPGA development tools

TI DSP / ARM / Xilinx platforms

Job description

Senior Controls Engineer – Electro-mechanical Products

Lead the design and qualification of reaction wheel attitude-control hardware for spaceflight

Location: Longmont, Colorado

Compensation: $144,179 - 201,850 USD / year

About The Role

Senior Controls Engineer

At Blue Origin, we envision millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. We're working to develop reusable, safe, and low-cost space vehicles and systems within a culture of safety, collaboration, and inclusion. Join our team of problem solvers as we add new chapters to the history of spaceflight!

The role is part of the In-Space Systems business unit, which is focused on addressing two of the most compelling challenges in spaceflight today: space infrastructure and increasing mobility on-orbit.

Role Overview

BNS Core Systems and Components is seeking a highly experienced Senior Controls Engineer to lead the architecture, development, integration, and qualification of spacecraft attitude-control actuators and momentum-management systems. This role will focus on Reaction Wheel Assemblies (RWAs), associated motor-control electronics, embedded flight software, FPGA development, and control algorithms.

The ideal candidate brings 15+ years of direct experience developing reaction wheel systems for aerospace applications, with deep technical expertise spanning controls modeling and implementation, electric motor drives, embedded systems, and hardware/software integration. This engineer will serve as a technical leader across the full product lifecycle, from concept development through flight qualification, production, and on-orbit support.

Responsibilities

• Lead the system architecture, requirements development, design, implementation, integration, test, and qualification of reaction wheels and momentum-control systems.
• Develop and mature control algorithms for reaction wheel applications, including speed, torque/current, momentum management, fault detection, and safe-mode behaviors.
• Design motor-control solutions for spacecraft actuators, including PMSM/BLDC motors, field-oriented control, space-vector PWM, commutation, current control, and speed-control loops.
• Develop real-time embedded control architectures, including functional decomposition, hardware selection, processor/FPGA partitioning, timing analysis, and software-layer definition.
• Oversee FPGA design and implementation activities for motor-control and actuator systems, including multi-axis or time-division multiplexed control architectures.
• Lead embedded flight software development, including bootloaders, scheduling, system management, mode control, command/telemetry interfaces, and health monitoring.
• Define and implement Fault Detection, Isolation, and Recovery (FDIR) strategies for actuator electronics and software.
• Perform dynamic-system modeling, controls analysis, simulation, and validation using tools such as MATLAB/Simulink and real-time simulation environments.
• Lead integration and test of motors, sensors, power electronics, FPGA firmware, embedded software, and mechanical assemblies.
• Develop verification approaches, test procedures, and data-analysis methods for component- and system-level testing.
• Oversee electrical, mechanical, GNC, systems engineering, manufacturing, reliability, and mission teams to deliver robust, producible flight hardware.
• Provide technical mentorship, design leadership, and review support for engineers across controls, FPGA, and embedded software disciplines.
• Support anomaly resolution, root-cause investigations, and continuous improvements for development and operational systems.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 15+ years of direct experience designing, developing, testing, and deploying Reaction Wheel Assemblies, reaction wheel control systems, or closely related spacecraft actuator systems.
• Demonstrated experience developing control algorithms and real-time control systems for precision electromechanical systems.
• Extensive motor-control experience, including three-phase PMSM or BLDC drives, field-oriented control, space-vector PWM, current/torque control, and speed-control loops.
• Experience designing and implementing embedded control systems, including hardware/software partitioning, processor selection, timing architecture, and real-time execution.
• Experience with FPGA-based controls implementation and development workflows.
• Proficiency in C and/or C++ for embedded applications.
• Experience with MATLAB/Simulink for controls modeling, simulation, analysis, and/or embedded code generation.
• Experience with embedded processors, DSPs, microcontrollers, and/or FPGA platforms such as TI DSP, ARM, Xilinx, MicroBlaze, Microsemi, or equivalent.
• Experience with real-time operating systems, schedulers, or deterministic embedded architectures, such as VxWorks, Green Hills, or custom bare-metal/scheduler-based systems.
• Experience implementing embedded-system fundamentals, including serial communications, memory and peripheral management, timers, counters, watchdogs, bootloaders, and hardware bring-up.
• Ability to read and interpret electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, and mechanical drawings.
• Hands‑on laboratory experience with oscilloscopes, logic/protocol analyzers, power supplies, signal generators, embedded debug tools, and electromechanical assembly/test equipment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Controls, Robotics, or a related discipline.
• Experience developing small-satellite or spacecraft attitude-control hardware.
• Experience with control moment systems, including multi-axis control, gimbal/motor control, momentum management, and primary/secondary system configurations.
• Experience developing flight software applications, including system management, mode control, communications, bootloaders, and scheduling.
• Experience with VHDL and/or Verilog for production FPGA development.
• Experience designing systems that meet aerospace environmental, reliability, safety, and qualification requirements.
• Experience leading integrated hardware, FPGA, and flight‑software teams through aggressive development and test schedules.
• Experience with spacecraft GNC interfaces, attitude-control system architecture, and momentum-management strategies.
• Familiarity with production embedded systems and design-for-manufacturability principles.
• Demonstrated technical mentorship and leadership experience.

What You Will Bring

• Deep ownership and technical judgment in the design of mission-critical spacecraft components.
• Ability to translate mission and system-level needs into actionable component requirements and robust technical architectures.
• Strong problem-solving skills and comfort working across hardware, firmware, software, controls, and test domains.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to lead technical reviews and communicate complex technical issues to multidisciplinary teams.
• A hands‑on, collaborative approach to solving challenging spacecraft actuator and controls problems.

Example Deliverables

• Reaction wheel and momentum-control-system requirements, architectures, and interface definitions.
• Motor-control algorithms and real-time embedded implementations.
• FPGA control designs and verification artifacts.
• Flight-software designs for actuator control, health management, and commanding/telemetry.
• Dynamic models, control-law analyses, and simulation results.
• Integration and qualification test plans, procedures, reports, and anomaly-resolution documentation.

Base Pay Range for:

CO applicants is $144,179.00 - $201,849.90 WA applicants is $156,802.00 - $219,522.45 Other site ranges may differ

Culture Statement

Don't meet all desired requirements? Studies have shown that some people are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single desired qualification. At Blue Origin, we are dedicated to building an authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every desired qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Export Control Regulations

Applicants for employment at Blue Origin must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e. current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Background Check

• Required for all positions: Blue's Standard Background Check
• Required for Certain Job Profiles: Defense Biometric Identification System (DBIDS) background check if at any time the role requires one to be on a military installation
• Required for Certain Job Profiles: Drivers who operate Commercial Motor Vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW), Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) or combination of power unit and trailer that meets or exceeds 10,001 lbs. and/or transports placardable amounts of hazardous materials by ground in any vehicle