Senior Motor Control Avionics Engineer – Lunar Permanence

Blue Origin; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 183,193 - 256,469; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Paid Time Off

401(k) with company match

Job summary

Blue Origin is looking for a Senior Motor Control Engineer in Los Angeles, CA. Responsible for the technical baseline of embedded motor controllers, you will guide a multi-disciplinary team through the design and verification phases. Applicants should have extensive experience in motor control systems, fault tolerance, and leading teams. The position offers competitive compensation and a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, and 401(k) plans among others.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience developing motor drive/control systems for stepper and/or BLDC motor applications.
• Experience designing fault-tolerant control electronics and embedded control behavior.
• Strong technical leadership guiding multi-disciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical baseline for a family of embedded motor controllers.
• Guide a team through design and integration phases.
• Define and manage controller interfaces to motors and systems.

Skills

Experience developing motor drive/control systems

Experience with high-precision motor control

Designing fault-tolerant control electronics

Technical leadership

Space radiation effects knowledge

Strong communication skills

Education

B.S./B.A. in engineering or relevant technical field

Tools

Altium for PCB design

Systems engineering tools like Jama

Job description

As a Senior Motor Control Engineer on Core Avionics, you will serve as the Responsible Engineer (RE) for a family of embedded motor controllers reused across multiple vehicles and mechanisms (e.g., gimbals, valves, pumps, deployables). You will own the technical baseline—requirements, architecture, interfaces, design margins, verification evidence, and qualification approach—and guide a multi-disciplinary team to deliver safe, repeatable, high‑reliability motor control products supporting human lunar missions. You will interface directly with internal vehicle “customers,” NASA, and National Team Partners to define product needs and ensure the controllers meet performance, fault tolerance, and safety objectives.

Responsibilities

• Own the motor controller family technical baseline as the Responsible Engineer: requirements, architecture, design decisions, interfaces (ICDs), configuration control, and lifecycle documentation to enable reuse across vehicles.
• Partner with vehicle and subsystem teams (“customers”) to define product needs: performance, environments, fault tolerance, safety/hazard controls, operability, integration constraints, and reuse strategy.
• Develop controller architectures spanning power electronics, sensing, embedded processing, and firmware to support motor technologies including BLDC and stepper.
• Guide a multi-disciplinary team (EE power, EE digital, firmware, mechanical, analysis, test, systems, safety/reliability, manufacturing) through concept → design → build → integration → test → qualification.
• Define and manage controller interfaces to motors, resolvers/encoders/sensors, vehicle power, and avionics networks; ensure robust EMI/EMC and grounding/bonding strategies as applicable.
• Drive fault‑tolerant motor control design: redundancy strategies, safe‑state behavior, fault detection/isolation/recovery, built‑in test, degraded modes, and telemetry for health management.
• Plan and execute verification: define test strategy and procedures; support bench bring‑up, HIL where appropriate, environmental testing, and qualification/acceptance evidence closure.
• Coordinate parts selection and design practices considering space radiation effects (TID/SEE), derating, and mitigation approaches appropriate to mission.
• Communicate progress, risks, and trade decisions clearly; lead technical reviews and ensure issues are tracked to closure.

Minimum Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience developing and delivering motor drive/control systems for stepper and/or BLDC motor applications (architecture through test).
• Experience with high‑precision and/or high‑speed motor control in safety‑critical or high‑reliability systems.
• Experience designing fault‑tolerant control electronics and embedded control behavior (FDIR, safe state, redundancy management).
• Experience owning a technical baseline for a product line (requirements, ICDs, design trades, verification/validation, configuration control), including reuse across multiple platforms.
• Demonstrated technical leadership guiding multi‑disciplinary teams to successful product delivery.
• Familiarity with space radiation effects and mitigation strategies relevant to electronics.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including leading technical reviews.
• B.S./B.A. in engineering or a relevant technical field.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing spacecraft mechanism controllers (e.g., solar array drive assemblies, antenna gimbals, valve controllers, pump drives).
• Experience with Altium (or equivalent) for PCB design collaboration/review.
• Experience performing FMEA/FTA (including network/system‑level fault tree contributions) or other reliability/fault tolerance analyses.
• Experience with systems engineering tools such as Jama (or similar).
• Experience working in a safety‑critical development environment and supporting qualification testing campaigns.
• Basic project management skills (planning, milestones, risk management, cross‑team coordination).

Compensation Range For

CA applicants: $183,193.00 - $256,469.85
CO applicants: $173,466.00 - $242,851.35
WA applicants: $183,193.00 - $256,469.85

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, paid parental leave, short and long‑term disability, 401(k) with a company match up to 5%, and an Education Support Program.
• Paid Time Off: Up to four 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 bonuses and other rewards based on the company's discretion. Bonuses are not guaranteed.

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 workforce. 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 race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or other status protected by law. Blue Origin will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable laws, including the Washington Fair Chance Act, the California Fair Chance Act, the Los Angeles Fair Chance in Hiring Ordinance, and other applicable laws.

Affirmative Action and Disability Accommodation

Applicants wishing to receive information on Blue Origin’s affirmative action plans or who need a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application and interview process should contact [e-mail]. Please do not include personal medical information in your request.