Contract Power Electronics Engineer

Open hourly rate
3-month contract - 30 hours per week
Fully remote (US-based)

About the role

A space & defense company is hiring a Contract Power Electronics Design Engineer to own a payload power design through a focused three-month push. Flight hardware for real missions, built to high-reliability standards, with the analysis rigour that goes with it. The architecture is set, the program is moving. What's needed is a design owner who has built spacecraft power boxes before, can pick up a live design without a long runway, and can carry it from schematic through layout and test on a fixed clock.

Responsibilities

• Owning a payload power electronics design end to end — architecture, schematic capture, PCB layout direction and test
• Designing a phase-shifted full bridge DC-DC converter above 1800W, including the magnetics
• Transformer and inductor design — turns ratio, core and winding selection, thermal and loss budgets
• Running SPICE simulation to close loop stability, transient response and efficiency ahead of hardware
• Producing the high-reliability analyses: parts stress, worst case, derating and failure modes
• Supporting board bring-up, functional test and verification, and troubleshooting when hardware misbehaves
• Presenting the design and its margins at reviews, and writing it up so it stands on its own

Requirements

• Proven spacecraft or space-qualified power electronics design experience
• Phase-shifted full bridge design experience at >1800W DC-DC
• Transformer and magnetics design experience
• Payload power architecture design
• SPICE simulation and schematic capture through to PCB design (Altium or equivalent)
• Strong analog and digital electronics fundamentals
• Space hardware integration, test and verification knowledge
• Sound engineering judgment — balancing risk and technology against requirements, cost and schedule
• Exemplary written and oral communication, with a track record of presenting technical material
• US-based and eligible to work on ITAR-controlled programs

Nice to have

• High-reliability or Class A mission design standards, NASA, JPL, DoD or MDA programs
• High-voltage, high-current work (100V+, 100A+), MPPTs, PDUs, batteries, motor controllers, solar arrays
• Basic test-only firmware development
• Energy balance modelling, power architecture trade studies and design review support
• Prior contract or independent consulting work, you land and add value fast