Avionics Engineer III - Power Systems

Turning Space into a Transportation Layer for Earth

Who We Are: 

Eras of humanity can often be defined by a dominant transportation mode - horse-drawn chariots, ocean-going boats, or aircraft. These were spurred by a small group of people rigorously focused on building technology to achieve faster access to more of the world. We seek to usher in a new era of humanity defined by universal access to the whole globe free of borders and the presence of a routine way from space to Earth. To do this, we are building highly maneuverable re-entry vehicles that can loiter in orbit before precision landing back on Earth.  

 What You’ll Do: 

As a Senior Power Systems Engineer, you’ll be designing the power architecture and power conversion electronics for Inversion’s next-generation spacecraft, Arc. At a high level, this work will include power distribution architecture design, operational power analysis, power budget management, and requirements generation. At a low level, you’ll be implementing DC-DC and MPPT converters on PCB designs, designing battery packs and battery management systems, and testing your designs for performance and environmental tolerance. You’ll also be specifying, testing, and integrating solar cells/panels to be flown in space. The Power Systems Engineer will have a direct impact on virtually anything to do with power supply or conversion across all electronics designs on the flight vehicle and on custom ground support equipment.  

Required Qualifications: 

• Minimum of a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• Typically, 6 years of professional experience designing power electronics from ~1 to 1000W, including maximum power point tracking. 
• Experience with thermal design for power electronics. 
• Experience designing PCBAs using Altium Designer or similar ECAD design software. 
• Experience with PDN and converter design for microcontrollers, microprocessors, and similar low-power electronics. 
• Experience with PCBA bring-up and performance testing. 
• Experience with common laboratory equipment such as oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, spectrum analyzers, and data acquisition systems.  
• Excellent written and oral communication skills (English). 

Desired Qualifications: 

• Masters degree in Electrical Engineering. 
• Experience specifying, testing, and integrating solar cells. 
• Experience designing hardware for spaceflight. 
• Experience with radiation-tolerant power electronics. 
• Experience with fault-tolerant design. 
• Experience with FMEA of power electronics. 
• Prior experience working in startups and on small, independent teams. 

Our office headquarters is located in Playa Vista, CA. This position requires in office presence.

The California annual base salary for this role is currently $125,000 - $144,000.  Pay Grades are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data.  Individual pay will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: interviews and an assessment of several factors that are unique to each candidate, job-related skills, relevant education and experience, certifications, abilities of the candidate and internal equity.