Senior Electrical Engineer

Outpost is at the forefront of space logistics, developing innovative Earth return vehicles that enable safe and efficient payload recovery from space to Earth. By accelerating the transition of industries into orbit, we open new possibilities for space-based manufacturing and global logistics. Our flagship project, the Ferryall spacecraft, is supported by the U.S. Government, with four missions supported over the next four years. We're also developing the Carryall vehicle, designed to return up to 10 tons from space, significantly expanding the scope of what's possible for space-based operations. Founded in 2021 by industry veteran Jason Dunn, and based in Santa Monica, California, our team is committed to advancing space technology and making space accessible to all.

The Team

The Avionics team is responsible for the design, testing, and production of electronic systems for Outpost’s Earth return vehicles. Your duties will include devising avionics hardware designs and system architectures for multiple satellite systems. These systems encompass a range of components such as computers, sensors, actuators, propulsion, electrical power generation, storage, conditioning and distribution, and communications systems.

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, mathematics, physics, aerospace, or related field
• Minimum 5+ years of experience designing and building electrical hardware
• Work on-site in Santa Monica, CA

Responsibilities:

• Drive rapid development of high reliability electronic systems, including architecture and implementation details of circuitry and firmware/software for spacecraft systems
• Drive designs from requirements definition, prototyping, design, bring-up, debugging and test to manufacturing
• Design power supplies and converters (including DC/DC switching regulators, isolated supplies, stability, noise, and characterization)
• Perform component selection and trade studies for different implementation options and build vs. buy decisions to best generate and satisfy design requirements
• Capture schematics and design PCB layouts, create component symbols, footprints and manage libraries
• Circuit simulation in Altium SPICE, LTSPICE or similar 
• Thermal analysis of electrical designs, including sizing of thermal management systems
• Support production of hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) simulated flight environment build, setup and test needs 
• Create development and qualification testing campaigns for verification and performance characterizations and exercise designs to their limits.
• Support hardware through production, integration, test, and flight, re-entry and refurbishment
• Work with experts from other areas to drive design changes that make the systems more efficient, reliable and manufacturable
• Create documentation for hardware, software and systems
• Support firmware development in C/C++ for microcontrollers, and/or digital design in Verilog HDL for FPGAs
• Interface with internal teams to conduct design reviews for hardware/electronic systems and code reviews for software/firmware/HDL
• Coordinate with vendors of avionics products, both software and hardware, to ensure products are delivered within expectations

Additional Skills or Expertise

• Experience with circuit board layout, including for switching power converters or high speed digital communication circuits (Altium Designer)
• Experience with developing electrical hardware and defining architecture from a blank slate
• Experience designing switching power converters, power magnetics, analog control loops, solid state load switches, EMI/EMC compliance, or sensor signal conditioning circuits
• Experience with high voltage devices, lithium ion batteries, or power distribution optimization
• Experience with microcontrollers, high performance digital processors, FPGAs, memory chips, and/or network switches
• Knowledge of PCB fabrication and assembly processes, design-for-manufacture and design-for-assembly (DFM / DFA), familiarity with IPC and/or JEDEC standards
• Hands-on experience with board level bring-up, testing and debugging.
• Experience with systems engineering based requirements definition, verification and validation
• Experience defining software and hardware interfaces, design and architecture
• Experience writing firmware and software in C/C++ and/or Python
• Working knowledge of embedded systems: microcontrollers, ADC/DAC systems, and common communication interfaces (e.g., UART, SPI, I2C, etc.)
• Experience in large-format, high-density and/or high-layer-count PCB design, preferably for aerospace, automotive, medical, or other high-reliability applications
• Experience designing and selecting components for radiation-tolerant circuitry 

Compensation & Benefits:

• $120,000 - $185,000, based on experience
• Equity
• Annual Performance-Based Bonuses
• Medical, Dental and Vision
• Short- and Long-Term disability insurance
• Life Insurance
• PTO
• 401K with company match
• Subsidized daily catered lunch, snacks and coffee

You must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 , or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State

We are focused on building a diverse and inclusive workforce. Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Outpost Space we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role, but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.