Mechanisms Flight Engineer

Key Responsibilities

• Build, configure, and maintain the mechanism drive and control representation on the flat sat, including harness routing, connector integration, motor drivers, actuator electronics, release-device fire circuits, and position/feedback sensors.
• Perform bring-up, functional checkout, and troubleshooting of mechanism drive electronics and control paths, including motors, position sensors, peripheral devices, and HDRM circuits.
• Create and utilize scripting and test automation tools to improve test repeatability, efficiency, and verification coverage.
• Execute flight operations procedures for mechanism deployments and actuation events, including commanding mechanisms, monitoring telemetry, validating timelines, and verifying mode transitions.
• Rehearse and validate commissioning, deployment, and on-orbit actuation events in the flat sat environment.
• Reproduce on-orbit mechanism conditions in the laboratory to support anomaly investigation, troubleshooting, and resolution.
• Verify mechanism electrical interfaces against ICDs, schematics, and engineering requirements, including continuity, pinout verification, power distribution, motor phases, sensor signals, and HDRM circuitry.
• Instrument and monitor mechanism performance using laboratory test equipment including oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, DMMs, programmable power supplies, and data loggers.
• Capture and analyze telemetry and test data, including motor current signatures, heater and RTD data, switch states, and deployment timing metrics to assess mechanism performance and health.
• Maintain configuration control of flat sat hardware, software, and testbed builds to ensure accurate representation of flight configurations and document all deltas.
• Collaborate closely with Mechanisms, Avionics, Software, Integration & Test, Systems Engineering, and Flight Operations teams to close verification activities and resolve technical issues.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• Experience: Minimum 3+ years of hands-on experience in spacecraft integration and test, flight hardware operations, mission operations, or related engineering disciplines involving mechanism control systems, actuators, or complex electromechanical systems.
• Experience with electronics bring-up, mechanism actuation and control, and electrical troubleshooting using laboratory instrumentation.
• Experience developing automated test procedures and scripts (Python preferred) for functional verification, integration testing, or operational validation.
• Ability to read and interpret electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, interface control documents (ICDs), and engineering drawings.
• Experience performing connector verification, harness validation, and electrical interface testing.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience supporting spacecraft mechanisms, flat sat environments, spacecraft integration and test (I&T), or mission operations.
• Experience commanding and monitoring deployment or actuation events through telemetry and command interfaces.
• Experience with motor drive and actuator control systems, including brushed DC, brushless DC, and stepper motors, encoders, and closed-loop positioning systems.
• Experience with spacecraft commissioning activities, deployment operations, sequence validation, timeline verification, or ground-segment interfaces.
• Experience supporting anomaly investigations, root-cause analysis, and corrective action implementation.
• Familiarity with spaceflight hardware development and operational readiness activities.

Soft Skills

• Strong systematic troubleshooting skills with the ability to isolate whether a fault is mechanical, electrical, firmware, software, or operational in nature and drive resolution to root cause.
• Meticulous documentation practices and configuration management discipline.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary teams.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment and maintain composure during real-time deployment and actuation events where actions may be time-critical and irreversible.
• Self-directed and proactive in a fast-paced, small-team environment.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to perform hands-on hardware operations in electronics laboratory and cleanroom environments for extended periods.
• Ability to work with cabling, fine-pitch connectors, electronic assemblies, and precision flight hardware.
• Compliance with ESD and contamination-control protocols.
• Ability to use computers, engineering workstations, and laboratory instrumentation for extended periods.
• Willingness to support occasional nights, weekends, and mission-critical operations associated with launch, commissioning, and on-orbit deployment activities.
• Ability to lift and manipulate hardware, cabling, and test equipment as required for integration and test activities.