Space Power Electronics Avionics Engineer — Build for Mars

Starpath Robotics Inc.; Carson (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Retirement plans

Paid time off

Job summary

Starpath Robotics Inc. is seeking a Power Electronics Avionics Engineer to own the design of Starlight’s power electronics, from system architecture to flight qualification.

You will drive converter topology selection, magnetics, sensing, control loops, and EMI considerations in a hands-on role with systems, mechanical, and test engineers. You will collaborate on schematic capture, PCB layout, testing, and debugging of prototypes, ensuring robust performance under space conditions.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of professional experience in power electronics design.
• Experience taking a converter from architecture to prototype, bring-up, and testing.
• Strong understanding of switch-mode topologies, control-loop design, magnetics, power semiconductors, and gate-drive design.
• Experience with current and voltage sensing, feedback networks, filtering, isolation, and hardware protection circuits.
• Strong understanding of grounding, parasitics, switching behavior, power integrity, and EMI/EMC fundamentals.
• Experience designing or directing the layout of multilayer power-electronics PCBs.
• Hands-on experience with oscilloscopes, electronic loads, power supplies, network analyzers, current probes, and differential probes.
• Experience with circuit simulation, tolerance analysis, hardware bring-up, and root-cause investigation.
• Degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• A desire to make humans a multi-planet species

Responsibilities

• Own the design of a power converter for the Starlight solar array product from requirements through flight readiness.
• Translate system-level requirements into converter architecture and detailed electrical requirements.
• Select converter topologies and components based on efficiency, power density, reliability, mass, cost, and manufacturability.
• Design switching power stages, gate-drive circuits, magnetics, control loops, sensing, filtering, and protection circuitry.
• Perform circuit modeling, simulation, stability analysis, component derating, and worst-case analysis.
• Own schematic capture and power-electronics PCB layout, including high-current paths, switching nodes, grounding, isolation, thermal management, and EMI control.
• Build, bring up, characterize, and debug converter prototypes.
• Develop and execute tests for efficiency, regulation, transient response, stability, thermal performance, emissions, and fault behavior.
• Design for launch and space environments, including vibration, thermal vacuum, radiation, and electromagnetic compatibility.
• Define electrical interfaces between the solar array, converter, spacecraft power system, and avionics.
• Investigate failures, determine root causes, and implement design improvements.
• Partner with manufacturing and supply-chain teams to transition the design into reliable production.
• Maintain schematics, bills of materials, analyses, interface documentation, and test and qualification records.

Skills

Power electronics

Switch-mode topologies

Control loops

Sensing & protection

PCB layout

Prototype bring-up

Oscilloscopes

Circuit simulation

Education

Electrical Eng degree

Tools

Altium Designer

Cadence

LTspice

PSpice

PLECS

Job description

Starpath Robotics Inc. is seeking a Power Electronics Avionics Engineer to own the design of Starlight’s power electronics, from system architecture to flight qualification.

You will drive converter topology selection, magnetics, sensing, control loops, and EMI considerations in a hands-on role with systems, mechanical, and test engineers. You will collaborate on schematic capture, PCB layout, testing, and debugging of prototypes, ensuring robust performance under space conditions.