Propulsion Systems 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.

Amazon Leo's Propulsion team designs, tests, and builds its own propulsion systems. As a systems engineer within the team, you will own the system-level engineering of the electric propulsion subsystem that raises, maintains, and safely deorbits every Amazon Leo satellite. You will connect thruster physics to spacecraft and constellation needs: turning mission and concept-of-operations needs into clear requirements, keeping the propulsion baseline and budgets current, defining interfaces with flight software and the rest of the spacecraft, and ensuring what we design is what we verify. Alongside that systems role, you will build hands-on electric propulsion expertise, working with thrusters, power processing units, and feed systems together with our design, test, and flight operations engineers.

This role is roughly 70% systems engineering and 30% propulsion hardware development. It suits an engineer who enjoys both the analysis and the hardware, and who wants to see their work fly on thousands of spacecraft.

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
- Derive, write, and maintain propulsion subsystem requirements from mission, spacecraft, and regulatory needs (orbit raising, station keeping, collision avoidance, deorbit), and manage flow-down to components
- Maintain the propulsion technical baseline and change control across current and next-generation designs
- Own propulsion budgets and margins (delivered total impulse, propellant, power, mass, lifetime) and assess the impact of design, schedule, and operational changes at constellation scale
- Define and maintain interfaces between propulsion and flight software, GNC, power, avionics, thermal, and structures, including software interface control documents and command and telemetry definitions
- Deliver technical analyses and trade studies for current and next-generation propulsion architectures, and drive them to documented decisions
- Define test requirements and maintain requirements-to-verification traceability; partner with test engineers on hardware-in-the-loop, hot fire, and qualification campaigns
- Contribute to FMECA, fault management, and risk assessments, and drive technical mitigations to propulsion system risks
- Prepare and present material for design reviews and support readiness reviews with suppliers and manufacturing partners
- Build hands-on electric propulsion expertise through test support, data analysis, and hardware troubleshooting on thrusters, power processing units, and feed systems
- Support propulsion concepts of operations (CONOPS) and in-flight response procedures for off-nominal scenarios, and support flight operations as needed
- Track propulsion system performance using on-orbit and production data, including AI-assisted analysis, and support root cause investigations through closure
- Work cross-functionally with experts in plasma physics, mechanical design, avionics, flight software, flight dynamics, and test across the full product lifecycle

A day in the life
You might start the morning reviewing a proposed design change and assessing its impact on the propellant budget and flight software interfaces. Midday you work with test engineers to define acceptance criteria for an upcoming hot fire, then spend the afternoon in a trade study on the next-generation thruster, or digging through on-orbit telemetry to understand an unexpected performance trend. You will work closely with propulsion design, GNC, flight software, flight dynamics, test, and supplier teams

Basic Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or an equivalent field
- 3+ years of technical engineering experience
- Experience developing, analyzing, or testing spacecraft or aerospace propulsion hardware
- Experience developing functional specifications, requirements, and interface definitions, along with the design verification plans and test procedures that verify them
- Experience with physics-based modeling and analysis of propulsion or spacecraft systems
- Proficiency with scripting (Python, MATLAB, or equivalent) for analysis and data visualization

Preferred Qualifications

- Advanced degree (Master's or PhD) in aerospace engineering, plasma physics, or related discipline
- Experience with electric propulsion systems such as Hall effect thrusters or ion engines, including power processing units and propellant feed systems
- Experience building and maintaining system budgets (total impulse, propellant, power, mass) and assessing design changes against them
- Experience with requirements management tools and traceability from requirements to verification
- Experience with electric propulsion test facilities (vacuum chambers, thrust stands, plasma diagnostics) or environmental qualification testing
- Familiarity with spacecraft subsystem interfaces (power, thermal, structures, avionics, flight software)
- Experience with propulsion control unit hardware and software integration, including command and telemetry definition
- Experience with FMECA, fault management, or risk management on flight programs
- Background spanning development, high-rate production, and on-orbit operations

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.