Controls Engineer, Amazon Leo Optical Inter-Satellite Link

Amazon • Redmond, WA

3d • $117,300 - $160,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Amazon LEO is launching a constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites to provide broadband connectivity. This role focuses on the development, testing, and validation of pointing, acquisition, and tracking (PAT) systems for free-space optical links within the Amazon LEO satellite constellation. The position requires a blend of electrical engineering, opto-mechatronics, and controls knowledge, supporting FPGA verification, hardware integration, and model-based design. The engineer will collaborate with senior PAT engineers on test campaigns, verification infrastructure, and bridging the gap between algorithm models and hardware. This is an on-site role within the OISL Electrical Engineering team, with a flexible focus on PAT/controls activities and supporting the EE team on production RCAs, trade studies, and board-level design. The role involves working with flight data analysis, simulation, test infrastructure, and hardware debug. Flexible hours and occasional travel may be required. There is an opportunity for growth into technical leadership within PAT and EE domains.

Requirements

• BS degree in electrical engineering or equivalent
• Professional experience in a hardware-adjacent controls, test, or systems engineering role
• MATLAB/Simulink proficiency — comfortable running models, interpreting results, building test cases, and debugging issues
• Experience analyzing test or flight data to identify trends, anomalies, and correlations
• Experience with reading schematics and understanding digital/analog signal interfaces
• Experience with lab instrumentation (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, signal generators, spectrum analyzers)
• Experience with control system fundamentals — feedback loops, transfer functions, stability concepts
• Experience with fixed-point concepts — word length, fraction length, overflow, quantization error
• Experience with version control (Git)
• Experience with working across disciplines — comfortable interfacing with EE, FPGA, and mechanical teams
• 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.

Nice To Haves

• Data converter (ADC/DAC) electrical characteristics, architectures, and design tradeoffs (SNR, ENOB, linearity, settling time), including basic understanding of sampling theory, decimation/interpolation filters, and anti-aliasing as they relate to converter performance in closed-loop control systems
• Analog and mixed-signal board-level design and troubleshooting best practices (power integrity, signal integrity, grounding)
• Experience with production hardware debug and root cause analysis
• Low-noise design techniques (grounding, shielding, power supply filtering)
• Filter design basics (active/passive, analog/digital)
• Digital interface protocols (SPI, I2C, LVDS, CAN, Ethernet) and use cases
• Basic programming experience (Python, C, or scripting for test automation)
• Awareness of radiation effects (SEU, TID) on semiconductor devices
• Thermal considerations for space-qualified electronics
• Experience in aerospace or defense environments

Responsibilities

• Analyze flight telemetry data and compare against simulation predictions to identify discrepancies, characterize on-orbit behavior, and support anomaly investigations.
• Run and maintain simulation environments to reproduce flight scenarios and validate model fidelity against observed data.
• Support production and on-orbit failure investigations by reviewing data, identifying patterns, and narrowing down failure modes.
• Assist with electrical RCAs and debug board-level issues.
• Contribute to failure analysis reports and corrective action documentation.
• Support production ramp activities requiring EE analysis and hardware troubleshooting.
• Develop and maintain test vectors to verify PAT FPGA implementations against Simulink reference models.
• Run bit-accurate simulations, compare outputs, and flag discrepancies between model and FPGA behavior.
• Work with existing models of PAT control loops and state machines, running simulations, generating test cases, and validating behavior.
• Support model-in-the-loop (MIL), software-in-the-loop (SIL), and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) verification activities.
• Contribute to trade studies for data converter selection and signal chain architecture.
• Support board-level testing, characterization, and troubleshooting for analog and mixed-signal circuits.
• Assist with electrical design reviews.
• Support production ramps and RCAs from an electrical and controls perspective.
• Document test procedures, results, RCA findings, and discrepancy investigations clearly.
• Help maintain version-controlled models, scripts, and test artifacts.
• Contribute to test reports, review materials, and configuration management records.

Benefits

• 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
• parental leave
• sign-on payments
• restricted stock units (RSUs)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level