Senior Electrical Engineer - Power Electronics & PCB Design - TeraWave

Blue Origin LLC; United States; On-site; USD 157,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Stock options

Paid time off and holidays

401(k) with company match

Job summary

Blue Origin seeks a Lead Power Electronics and PCB Design Engineer to steer a team of engineers working on PMAD electronics for spaceflight applications. The role blends technical leadership with hands-on design, from architecture through verification, with close collaboration across mechanical, fabrications, and suppliers.

You will drive DFM/DFT, manage design trades, and ensure producibility at constellation scale, while maintaining reliability and performance for demanding aerospace

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Aerospace, or related field with 8+ years electronics hardware development and leadership experience.
• Proficiency with PCB design tools for mixed-signal and high-power designs.
• Experience in power electronics hardware development including high-voltage switching and thermal management.
• Hands-on circuit design across analog, digital, or mixed-signal domains with component selection and troubleshooting.
• Knowledge of DFM/DFT and IPC standards in production electronics.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of PCB and circuit design engineers for PMAD electronics, optimization, and production readiness.
• Own PMAD board architecture decisions including power distribution and impedance control.
• Drive cost/mass reduction, modularity, and manufacturability improvements.
• Define electronics requirements, perform design trades, and oversee verification and test.
• Coordinate with mechanical, packaging, and suppliers to ensure buildability and supply continuity.

Skills

Power electronics

PCB design teamwork

Signal integrity

DFM/DFT knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field

Tools

Altium Designer

Cadence Allegro

Job description

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!Blue Origin is pioneering the future of space‑based communications with TeraWave, a revolutionary satellite communications network designed to deliver symmetrical data speeds of up to 6Tbps anywhere on Earth. This multi‑orbit constellation will consist of optically interconnected satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO), providing enterprise‑grade connectivity for critical operations worldwide.

This role sits within the TeraWave Spacecraft Bus Electrical Power Subsystem team. We are seeking a Lead Power Electronics and PCB Design Engineer to lead a team of experienced circuit and PCB design engineers responsible for the Power Management and Distribution (PMAD) electronics.

Your team's mandate is clear: optimize the PMAD for cost, mass, and producibility without compromising reliability or performance, and do it at constellation scale. This is a dual technical leadership and hands‑on engineering role.

You will set technical direction, manage complex design trades, and guide your team through schematic review, layout, verification, and qualification. You will also roll up your sleeves — owning board architecture decisions, driving DFM/DFT, and working directly with PCB fabricators and contract manufacturers to ensure the design is buildable at rate. TeraWave produces thousands of units, which means every decision you make has a direct multiplying effect on cost, yield, and schedule.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of PCB and circuit design engineers responsible for PMAD electronics design, optimization, and production readiness
• Own board architecture decisions for the PMAD, including power distribution, connector strategy, signal routing, current path design, protection interfaces, serviceability, and manufacturability
• Drive cost and mass reduction trades, architecture simplification, modularity, part count reduction, and recurring manufacturing cost improvements
• Lead electronics requirements definition, architecture trades, detailed design development, design verification, and test across the PMAD Design multi‑layer PCBs for complex digital, mixed‑signal, and high‑voltage/high‑power systems, with careful attention to EMC, creepage and clearance, signal integrity, power integrity, and thermal management
• Conduct power integrity analysis and design power distribution networks (PDN) for low‑noise, high‑current applications
• Work closely with mechanical packaging and harness teams to ensure the PMAD design is scalable, integrable, and manufacturable
• Work with PCB fabricators and contract manufacturers to resolve fabrication and assembly issues and ensure DFM compliance
• Collaborate with supply chain to ensure component and material availability for production rate
• Support board bring‑up, hardware debugging, and anomaly resolution during development, qualification, and integration
• Follow designs through formal verification, environmental qualification, and production release; support integration and flight acceptance activities
• Generate and maintain complete fabrication and assembly documentation including Gerber files, drill files, assembly drawings, and BOMs within the configuration management system

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Aerospace, or Materials Science Engineering, Physics, or a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a closely related field, plus 8 or more years of electronics hardware development experience, including demonstrated team leadership experience spanning technical guidance, performance development, and cross‑functional coordination
• Proficiency with PCB design tools — Altium Designer, Cadence Allegro, or equivalent — including hands‑on layout experience for mixed‑signal and high‑power designs
• Demonstrated experience in power electronics hardware development, including high‑voltage switching, power regulation, and PCB layout with explicit consideration for creepage, clearance, and thermal management
• Hands‑on circuit design experience across analog, digital, or mixed‑signal domains, including analysis, simulation, component selection, and troubleshooting of common parts such as power supplies, ADCs, DACs, op amps, processors, and MOSFETs
• Working knowledge of DFM, DFT principles, and IPC standards (IPC‑2221, IPC‑6012, IPC‑A‑610 or equivalent), with experience applying them in a production electronics context
• Must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum — required for access to export‑controlled technical data

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience designing electronics for space or aerospace environments, including vacuum, thermal cycling, radiation tolerance, and vibration
• Experience with power integrity analysis tools such as HyperLynx, Ansys SIwave, or Cadence Sigrity
• Experience performing worst‑case circuit analysis, FMEA/FMECA, and reliability analysis for high‑reliability applications
• Knowledge of signal integrity, grounding, and EMI/EMC best practices for high‑power and mixed‑signal PCB designs
• Knowledge of common communication protocols including RS‑422, I2C, SPI, LVDS, Ethernet, or CAN
• Knowledge of conformal coating, potting, and other space‑qualification surface treatment techniques
• Familiarity with MIL‑STD or NASA standards for electronics design and PCB fabrication
• Background in fault detection, redundancy strategies, and system‑level reliability design
• Experience with Windchill PLM or an equivalent configuration management system
• Strong written and verbal technical communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to author specifications, analysis reports, and design documentation independently

Base Pay Range for: CA applicants is $156,802.00 - $219,522.45 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

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. 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 on a public road while in commerce, may be subject to additional Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations including: Driver Qualification Files, Medical Certification (obtained before onboarding), Road Test, Hours of Service, Drug and Alcohol Testing, vehicle inspection requirements, CDL requirements (if applicable) and hazardous materials transportation/shipping training. Required for certain Job Profiles: Ability to obtain and maintain Merchant Mariner Credential, which includes pre‑employment and random drug testing as well as DOT physical.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, paid parental leave, short and long‑term disability, 401(k) with a company match of up to 5%, and an Education Support Program.
• Stock Options for all regular employees (working at least 20 hours/week).
• Paid Time Off: Up to four (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company‑paid holidays.
• Dependent on role type and job level, employees may be eligible for benefits and bonuses based on the company's intent to reward individual contributions and enable them to share in the company's results, or other factors at the company's sole discretion. Bonus amounts and eligibility are not guaranteed and subject to change and cancellation.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Blue Origin is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and is committed to attracting, retaining, and developing a highly qualified and dedicated work force. Blue Origin hires and promotes people on the basis of their qualifications, performance, and abilities. We support the establishment and maintenance of a workplace that fosters trust, equality, and teamwork. We provide all qualified applicants for employment and employees with equal opportunities for hire, promotion, and other terms and conditions of employment, regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin/ethnicity, age, physical or mental disability, genetic factors, military/veteran status, or any other status or characteristic protected by federal, state, and/or local law. Blue Origin will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws, including the Washington Fair Chance Act, the California Fair Chance Act, the Los Angeles Fair Chance in Hiring Ordinance, and other applicable laws. For more information on “Know Your Rights,” please see here.

Blue Origin was founded with a vision to enable a future where millions of people are living and working in space to benefit Earth. In order to preserve Earth, Blue Origin believes in the need to enable humanity to expand, explore, find new energy and material resources, and move industries that stress Earth into space. Blue Origin believes it has an important role in building a road to space and lowering the cost of getting there. At Blue Origin, we’re working on this today by developing fully reusable launch vehicles and systems that are safe, reliable and affordable. Every launch vehicle is designed for human spaceflight from the beginning and able to ferry payloads to space.