Senior Spacecraft Controls 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

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.