Electrostatics Specialist Engineer - Space Exploration

Responsibilities

• Serve as a subject-matter expert in high-charging environments, with primary responsibilities in spacecraft charging analysis, surface potentials, electrostatic discharge (ESD) mitigation, materials evaluation, and vehicle-level electrostatic risk assessments.
• Support engineering teams developing spacecraft, rovers, or other platforms where electrostatic phenomena present mission, safety, or performance risks.
• Show deep experience in high-charging generation, discharge mitigation, and advanced materials behavior.
• Evaluate circuits and box level designs for ESD protection.
• Report directly to the Electronics and Electrical Section Manager as part of a group of over 45 other Electronics and Electrical Engineers.
• Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• This position has been posted at multiple levels (must meet minimum level indicated).
• Depending on the candidate's experience, requirements, and business needs, we reserve the right to consider candidates at any level for which this position has been advertised.
• This position requires US Citizenship or Permanent Resident status due to the sensitivity of customer-related information.
• This position requires experience in the space industry or Department of Defense/Department of War.
• Must have a bachelor's degree in the field of engineering, physics, or materials.
• Must have 5+ years of recent and related work experience.
• Lead and perform analysis of spacecraft charging environments, including surface charging, internal charging, differential potentials, plasma interactions, and discharge event risk.
• Develop and validate electrostatic models to support design, verification, and certification of space vehicles, and ground vehicles.
• Design and support laboratory and field testing, including high-voltage discharge testing, plasma chamber testing, triboelectric charge measurements, and ESD characterization testing.
• Knowledge, understanding, and application of NASA-STD-4003, NASA-HDBK-4002, MIL-STD-464, MIL-STD-461 as applied to spacecraft.
• Strong communications and analytical skills; working knowledge of computer systems and integrated software application programs.

Desired

• Master's degree in engineering, physics, or materials from an accredited engineering school.
• Experience with EMA-3D Charge, Ansys HFSS, LT-Spice, NASCAP Spacecraft Charging Software tools.
• Understanding of different Orbits and how that applied to Spacecraft Charging Environments.
• Evaluate materials for charge accumulation, dissipation, and susceptibility to ESD, including coatings, polymers, composites, thermal blankets, and wiring insulation.
• Assess electronic parts, circuits, and systems to evaluate electrostatic risks, mitigation effectiveness, and ability to meet performance and reliability requirements.
• Define and recommend mitigation strategies such as bonding schemes, conductive coatings, passivation techniques, and operational constraints.
• Conduct ESD hazard assessments for aerospace systems, triboelectric charging during flight, and vehicle-level discharge pathways.
• Provide electrostatics expertise across multidisciplinary teams and translate stakeholder insights into system-level risk assessments and models.
• Review design changes and mission concepts for electrostatic implications, contributing to risk analysis and anomaly investigations.
• Familiarity with systems engineering and integration (S&EI) and/or specialty engineering for NASA spaceflight (or similar complexity).
• Analyze and interpret complex avionics design products including schematics, block diagrams, component specifications, parts lists, fault tree analysis, etc.
• Experience with test hardware such as oscilloscopes, multi-meters, logic analyzers, function generators, electronic load banks, power supplies, power and analyzers.
• Clearly communicate electrostatic concepts, risks, and mitigation strategies.