Avionics Electrical Design Engineer - Motor Controls
About The Position
At Stoke, we believe that a thriving space economy leads to a vibrant, sustainable, and equitable future here on Earth. That is why we are building our fully and rapidly reusable vehicle, Nova. It is designed to fly daily and solve the core challenges of space transportation – it reduces cost, increases availability, and enhances reliability. By radically lowering the cost and increasing the cadence of launch, we’re able to create a truly scalable space industry. Our team is mission-driven, collaborative, and empowered with ownership of their work. If you want to work with some of the most dedicated and talented people on Earth, come join us. Description 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
