Avionics Electrical Design Engineer - Motor Controls
About The Position
Motor control systems are fundamental to the success of highly reusable, operable, and reliable space systems. As an Electrical Design Engineer – Motor Controls, you will be responsible for designing, testing, and qualifying the electronics that drive electro-mechanical actuators used for thrust vector control (TVC), engine throttle valves, and aerodynamic surface actuators. You will work closely with the engines, fluids, avionics, and production teams to develop state-of-the-art solutions to challenging problems. You will own the development path for motor controllers - pushing designs to their limits through testing and iteration — and help establish actuators as a core competency at Stoke.
Requirements
- Minimum of 3 years of experience designing, building, or testing electromechanical actuators and/or control electronics
- B.S. degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronics, or Aerospace Engineering (or equivalent
- Ability to work primarily on-site at Stoke’s headquarters in Kent, WA
Nice To Haves
- Familiarity with electric motors, motor drives, and motion control technologies (BLDC/PMSM motors, motor controllers, encoders, resolvers, lead/ball screws, gearboxes, bearings)
- Ability to size motors, controllers, encoders, gears, ball screw assemblies, and bearings (roller, needle, tapered, etc.)
- Experience with Altium for PCB design
- Experience with MCAD tools and configuration management systems (Siemens NX and Teamcenter preferred)
- Experience qualifying hardware for launch vehicle environments (e.g., SMC-S-016, MIL-STD-810)
- Hands-on experience with fabrication and assembly of electromechanical systems
- Experience with torque and force sensing technologies and instrumentation
- Experience with thermal analysis and design
- Strong first-principles understanding of electrical and mechanical design best practices
- Ability to write software for test automation, data analysis, and validation
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Strong attention to detail
- Demonstrated leadership ability
- Ability to execute effectively within a team
Responsibilities
- Designing, tuning, testing, and qualifying motor control electronics on the NOVA reusable launch vehicle
- Define, design, manufacture, and test control electronics hardware
- Drive designs through the full lifecycle: concept, prototyping, testing, and production release
- Collaborate with valve and engine design teams to define sizing and performance requirements based on loads, rates, and redundancy requirements
- Perform trade studies on actuation approaches for electromechanical mechanisms
- Apply Design for Manufacturability (DFM) principles and partner with manufacturing to refine designs
- Write and execute build, acceptance, qualification, and system-level test procedures
- Coordinate with vendors and manage procurement activities
- Lead anomaly investigations and failure analysis to identify root cause and corrective actions
- Perform hands-on fabrication, wiring, debugging, light machining, and hardware bring-up as needed
- Support test and launch operations
Benefits
- Equity – We know that our employees are the reason we succeed. To give everyone a stake in our future, we are pleased to offer equity in the form of stock options to all regular, full-time employees.
- Comprehensive benefits program including subsidized medical, dental, and vision insurance
- Company-paid life and disability insurance
- 401(k) plan with employer match
- 4 weeks’ Paid Time Off
- Holidays – 10 days (including an end-of-year closure)
- Paid Family/Parental Leave
- On-site gym or monthly wellness stipend (depending on location)
- Dog friendly offices!
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
