Senior Harness Design Engineer

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by $450M from leading investors and an additional $500M in signed contracts, we’re mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space. The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft.

About the role

You will be responsible for harness and wiring system design, analysis, testing, and integration on some of the largest, most powerful, rapidly designed and manufactured satellites. You will collaborate with a cross-functional team of engineers to own trades that reduce cost, increase integration rate, and decrease mass of bus and payload harnessing. As the Responsible Engineer, you will oversee harness system design and components such as connectors, wire and cable, instrumentation, and heaters. You will help establish production test requirements and support vehicle avionics integration to enable high-rate production and constellation launch cadence. In your first two years, you will qualify hardware for flight, complete avionics integration on the satellite bus, and fly your hardware through intense LEO, MEO, and GEO environments.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Responsible Engineer for harness system design for bus avionics, mechanisms, RF systems, and payloads across the Mega and Giga satellites
• Define interface control documents for avionics boxes and bulkheads to optimize system diagrams and schematics
• Design, analyze, and release harnessing and secondary mounting hardware in CAD and production drawings based on system schematics and vehicle layout
• Drive design trades to reduce cost and select harness components such as connectors, contacts, wire/cables, shield braid, heaters, RTDs, and more
• Collaborate closely with manufacturing engineering and technicians on the harness and electro-mechanical subassembly teams to solve in-process issues and ensure high reliability
• Execute development and qualification testing of harness components and assemblies for critical space missions in MEO and GEO orbits
• Collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams to capture requirements, lead design trades, and integrate the design into the spacecraft systems
• Effectively manage and communicate project plan, milestones, and schedule execution

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace, mechanical, or electrical engineering or any equivalent combination of education and experience
• 5+ years of experience in electrical harness design, routing, production, and system integration
• Ability to work in a fast-paced and high-velocity start-up atmosphere
• Creative problem solver that can assess risk and make collaborative design and development decisions

Nice to Have

• Hands-on experience with environmental testing for space harnessing such as thermal, thermal vacuum, vibration, shock, radiation, and EMI/EMC testing per SMC-S-016
• Competence with electrical test equipment (multimeters, oscilloscopes, network analyzers, etc.)
• Strong presentation experience in highly technical design forums and reviews (Preliminary Design Reviews, Critical Design Reviews, Flight Readiness Reviews, etc.)
• Proficient with NX or similar CAD software including electrical harness routing
• Experience with practical application of GD&T and FEA

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, and paid parental leave
• Additional perks

Pay

Base salary range for this role is $150,000 - $190,000 + equity in the company. Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level.

Export Compliance: The person hired for this role must be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license, as the role involves access to information and items controlled by U.S. export control regulations, including ITAR.