Space Radiation Effects Engineer

Apex; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 96,000 - 132,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in Apex

Healthcare coverage

PTO 15-20 days + holidays

401(k) match

Parental leave

Job summary

Apex designs and manufactures satellite buses for space missions, combining software, vertical integration, and hardware for scalable production. The Radiation Effects Engineer will lead space environment qualification and design hardening to ensure reliable spacecraft electronics in challenging environments.

Responsibilities include managing qualification campaigns, operating test equipment, advising on radiation-tolerant designs, and supporting proposals with radiation assessments.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Nuclear Engineering, or related field.
• 2-5 years of experience in radiation effects and/or reliability engineering for aerospace systems.
• Expertise with radiation tools (AE9/AP9/SPM, CREME96, OMERE, SPENVIS) for environmental definition and requirements definition.
• Familiarity with industry radiation standards (MIL-STD-750, MIL-STD-883, ECSS-Q-ST-60-15C, MIL-STD-3053 and NASA testing guidelines).
• Experience budgeting, scheduling and executing SEE, TID and DDD test campaigns, including test evaluation hardware/kit development and familiar with testing FPGAs and microprocessors.
• Proficiency with data analysis and modeling software (Python, MATLAB, or equivalent).
• Familiarity with circuit simulation tools (LTSpice) with experience in design and/or analysis of digital and analog circuits.
• Strong lab experience with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, source meters, power supplies, and automating data collection.
• Effective communication skills, with the ability to clearly convey radiation risks and mitigation to diverse stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Establish and own the radiation qualification campaigns for critical new generation electronics.
• Operate radiation test equipment, including total dose sources and pulsed laser equipment.
• Provide radiation tolerant recommendations to product designers to increase probability of mission success through part selection, circuit design, passive/active radiation mitigations and mission design recommendations.
• Support business development and mission integration efforts by contributing to proposals, requirements development, customer briefings, and design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR) with radiation assessments.
• Own the budget, schedule, plan, and execution of radiation test campaigns at external facilities (protons, heavy ions, gamma, neutron) or through third-party partners for specific new technologies.
• Provide unit and mission level radiation analyses including SEE rates, availability estimates, cumulative dose exposures and the associated artifacts for requirements verification.
• Maintain and grow the parts and materials library databases with critical piece-part and material information accessible to all designers.

Skills

Radiation effects

Python

MATLAB

Data analysis

Education

B.S. in Electrical Engineering

M.S./Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering

Tools

AE9/AP9/SPM

SPENVIS

LTSpice

CREME96

Job description

Apex designs and manufactures satellite buses for space missions, combining software, vertical integration, and hardware for scalable production. The Radiation Effects Engineer will lead space environment qualification and design hardening to ensure reliable spacecraft electronics in challenging environments.

Responsibilities include managing qualification campaigns, operating test equipment, advising on radiation-tolerant designs, and supporting proposals with radiation assessments.