Senior Propulsion Electrical Engineer

Description

Amazon Leo is Amazon’s low Earth orbit satellite network. Our mission is to deliver fast, reliable internet connectivity to customers beyond the reach of existing networks. From individual households to schools, hospitals, businesses, and government agencies, Amazon Leo serves people and organizations operating in locations without reliable connectivity.

As an electrical engineer embedded in the propulsion team you are the propulsion-side owner of the interface between the plasma thruster system and propulsion control electronics. You will translate thruster physics and operating behavior into clear electrical interface requirements, lead integrated performance characterization, and investigate interactions between the thruster and electronics. You will work closely with the Avionics Electrical Engineering (EE) team responsible for propulsion control unit (PCU) flight hardware design and production support, bringing deep propulsion-system expertise to design trades, verification, and technical problem-solving.

You will use analysis, simulation, thruster characterization, and integrated propulsion-system testing to develop a deeper understanding of system behavior and reduce technical risk. You will translate findings into actionable requirements and validation data for the Avionics EE team. This is a hands-on role which requires collaboration across functional boundaries to develop the hardware which controls and powers the Hall effect thruster.

**Export Control Requirement:** Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Key job responsibilities
- Own the propulsion-to-electronics interface end to end: from initial definition to on-orbit performance monitoring that feeds back into design upgrades
- Own the propulsion control electronics requirements set, translating thruster characterization and bus constraints into verifiable specifications for power, valve drive, telemetry, fault detection, and protection behavior
- Lead system-level trade studies and first-principles analysis of thruster/electronics interactions, including discharge stability, negative-resistance loading, ignition, recycle events, and transient behavior.
- Collaborate with PCU hardware and firmware engineers to evaluate architectures, design trades, control strategies, and protection approaches against propulsion-system performance needs.
- Develop and execute propulsion-system experiments and integrated test setups to characterize thruster behavior, investigate electrical interactions, and validate operating assumptions; partnering with PCU design engineers to inform controller development.
- Plan and lead thruster-integrated electrical characterization and vacuum chamber testing. Partner with EE and test teams during PCU bring-up, integrated verification, and environmental and EMC test activities.
- Lead root cause investigations for electrical failures, anomalies, and non-conformances; own corrective action through closure
- Work cross-functionally with experts in plasma physics, mechanical, thermal, structures, materials, and software as an accountable technical partner across the full product lifecycle

Basic Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or equivalent
- 7+ years of technical engineering experience
- Experience in motherboard design, PCB design including schematic capture, stackup and circuit board layout
- Experience in developing functional specifications, design verification plans and functional test procedures

Preferred Qualifications

- Master's degree or Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering or related field
- Experience designing and testing propulsion control units or high-voltage supplies for electric propulsion, including isolated DC-DC topologies, magnetics design, and ignition and recycle handling
- Experience with analog and digital control loop design, compensation, and stability analysis for switching converters
- Proficiency with circuit simulation and analysis tooling (SPICE, PLECS, Simulink, or equivalent) and with schematic and PCB tools (Altium, Cadence, or equivalent)
- Experience with spacecraft power systems practices: EEE part selection and derating, radiation and single-event effects, worst-case circuit analysis, FMEA, and single-point-failure elimination
- Experience with EMI/EMC design and qualification, including conducted and radiated emissions and susceptibility

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.