Senior Power Electronics Engineer – Solar Array - TeraWave

BLUE ORIGIN•Seattle, WA

2d•$156,802 - $219,522

About The Position

Blue Origin is pioneering the future of space-based communications with TeraWave, a revolutionary satellite communications network designed to deliver symmetrical data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere on Earth. This multi-orbit constellation will consist of optically interconnected satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO), providing enterprise-grade connectivity for critical operations worldwide. Join Blue Origin's TeraWave Spacecraft Bus team as a Senior Power Electronics Engineer focused on Solar Array Regulation. You will serve as the Responsible Engineer (RE) for the Solar Array Regulator (SAR) — a flight-critical component at the heart of the spacecraft's Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS). The SAR governs how solar array power is captured, regulated, and delivered to the spacecraft bus across every illumination condition encountered in orbit, making it one of the most performance- and reliability-sensitive designs on the vehicle. This is a full product ownership role. You will drive the SAR from requirements definition through circuit design, qualification, and production release — and you will do it at constellation scale. TeraWave operates at a production rate of thousands of units, which means your design decisions directly impact manufacturing yield, unit cost, test throughput, and schedule. This is not a flagship mission environment where schedule is measured in years and cost is secondary. You will be expected to balance rigorous space-grade reliability with aggressive cost and manufacturability targets simultaneously — and to thrive in that tension.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a closely related field, plus 7 or more years of hands-on electronics hardware development experience
Demonstrated design experience with solar array regulation topologies — specifically shunt regulation, S3R, MPPT, or PPT — in a spacecraft or high-reliability power system application
Design experience with high-voltage power electronics above 50V, including bus architecture (regulated, unregulated, or semi-regulated) and protection circuit design
Hands-on experience leading or substantially contributing to a hardware qualification campaign per MIL-STD-1540, SMC-S-016, ECSS-E-ST-10-03, or a directly comparable standard, including test plan development and anomaly resolution
Experience with radiation-tolerant or radiation-hardened design practices for space environments, including component selection and total ionizing dose (TID) analysis

Nice To Haves

Graduate degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field
9 or more years of power electronics or power systems development experience for space or other harsh environments
Experience with solar array simulators and I-V curve characterization equipment for qualification and production acceptance testing
Experience in high-rate production electronics environments, including DFM/DFT optimization, production test development, and yield improvement
Familiarity with eclipse/sun transition power management, battery charge regulation, and the downstream interactions between the SAR and power management and distribution hardware
Experience designing and integrating high-dissipation electronics with mechanical structures for thermal management
Proficiency with Altium Designer (or comparable tool) for schematic capture and PCB layout
Proficiency with LTspice or a comparable SPICE-based simulation tool for circuit analysis
Experience with Windchill PLM or an equivalent configuration management system
Experience with EMI/EMC design and compliance per MIL-STD-461 or equivalent
Background in safety-critical systems development across aerospace, automotive, medical, or defense applications
Strong written and verbal technical communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to author specifications, analysis reports, and test plans independently

Responsibilities

Lead circuit design for the Solar Array Regulator, including S3R, PPT, and MPPT topologies for a high-voltage spacecraft power bus
Characterize solar array electrical performance across illumination angles, temperature ranges, and eclipse/sun transition scenarios to define design margins and inform control algorithm development
Define thermal dissipation requirements for shunt elements and collaborate with thermal engineering to validate heat rejection across all operating modes
Derive and maintain SAR hardware requirements, interface control documents (ICDs), and design specifications in coordination with systems engineering and adjacent subsystems including thermal, structures, harness, avionics, and the solar array supplier
Participate in FMEA/FMECA activities and drive single-point failure elimination throughout the design
Optimize the SAR design for high-rate manufacturing, including component commonality, DFM/DFT compliance, and unit cost targets without compromising reliability or performance
Define and transition Automated Test Equipment (ATE) from development to production, including solar array simulation capability and fault coverage validation
Develop and execute hardware qualification plans per MIL-STD-1540, SMC-S-016, or equivalent standards, and lead anomaly investigation and resolution
Serve as the technical authority for the SAR during vehicle integration and flight acceptance test campaigns
Own and maintain the complete SAR design package — schematics, PCB layouts, BOMs, drawings, and analysis reports — within the PLM configuration management system