Spacecraft Test Chief Engineer

Job Summary

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) designs and manufactures first-of-a-kind electromagnetic and electric power generation systems. GA-EMS supports critical fleet, space systems and satellites, missile defense, power and energy, and process and monitoring applications for defense, industrial, and commercial customers worldwide. We are seeking a Space Electrical Chief Engineer to provide technical leadership for the design, development, integration, and verification of spaceborne electrical and avionics systems.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical lead and chief engineer for spacecraft electrical and avionics systems on assigned programs, from concept development through launch and on-orbit operations.
• Define and own the spacecraft electrical architecture, including power generation and distribution, energy storage, avionics, data handling, communication interfaces, and harnessing.
• Lead the development, allocation, and management of system and subsystem requirements, ensuring traceability to customer specifications and mission objectives.
• Provide technical direction and oversight to electrical, power, avionics, FPGA/ASIC, and harness design teams; review and approve key design artifacts, analyses, and test plans.
• Lead or participate in trade studies (e.g., power architectures, redundancy schemes, component selection, radiation tolerance, derating, thermal/electrical interfaces) to optimize performance, cost, schedule, and risk.
• Ensure compliance with space environmental requirements, including radiation, EMC/EMI, thermal, vacuum, and launch loads, and guide the selection and qualification of EEE parts.
• Oversee the development of block diagrams, interface control documents (ICDs), electrical schematics, and power budgets, and ensure consistency across all program documentation.
• Lead design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, FRR) for electrical and avionics systems; prepare and present technical material to internal management and external customers.
• Define and guide integration and test (I&T) strategies for electrical systems, including functional testing, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), environmental testing, and system-level verification and validation.
• Support failure analysis, anomaly resolution, and root-cause/corrective-action activities during integration, test, and on-orbit operations.
• Collaborate closely with systems engineering, mechanical, software, RF, GNC, and mission assurance teams to ensure a balanced, integrated spacecraft design.
• Provide technical input to proposals, including concept development, BOEs (basis of estimate), risk assessments, and customer briefings; support new business capture as a technical subject matter expert.
• Mentor and develop early-career engineers, promoting sound engineering practices, design standards, and a culture of technical excellence.
• Ensure adherence to company, program, and customer processes, including configuration management, requirements management, and quality standards.
• Maintain awareness of industry standards and best practices for space electrical systems and recommend improvements to internal processes, tools, and design methodologies.
• Perform other duties as assigned or required.

Qualifications

• Typically requires a bachelors degree, masters degree or PhD in engineering or a related technical discipline from an accredited institution and progressive engineering experience as follows; eighteen or more years of experience with a bachelors degree, sixteen or more years of experience with a masters degree, or thirteen or more years with a PhD.
• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field from an accredited institution.
• Demonstrated experience leading the design and integration of spacecraft electrical or avionics systems, including power systems and data/command architectures.
• Strong understanding of: Spacecraft power systems (solar arrays, batteries, power conditioning and distribution, converters, regulators). Avionics and data handling (command and data handling, communication buses such as SpaceWire, CAN, MIL-STD-1553, Ethernet). EEE parts selection and derating, radiation effects (TID, SEE), and mitigation strategies.
• Requirements development and management, including use of tools such as DOORS or similar.
• Proven ability to lead multi-disciplinary technical teams, make sound engineering decisions, and balance technical, cost, and schedule constraints.
• Experience with system-level design reviews and direct interaction with government and/or commercial space customers.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare and present complex technical material to diverse audiences.
• Must be customer focused and able to work on a self-initiated basis or in a team environment and able to work extended hours and travel as required.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance.

Preferred

• Master’s degree or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field.
• Experience as a Chief Engineer, IPT Lead, or Lead Systems Engineer on a spaceflight program.
• Hands-on experience with hardware integration and test of spaceflight electrical systems, including environmental testing (vibe, thermal vacuum, EMC).
• Familiarity with space standards such as NASA, ECSS, MIL-STD, or equivalent (e.g., MIL-STD-1540, MIL-STD-461, NASA GEVS).
• Experience with model-based systems engineering (MBSE) tools and methods.
• Experience working with small satellites, ESPA-class spacecraft, or hosted payloads.
• Prior experience in a DoD or national security space environment.