Principal Electrical Power System Engineer at Axiom Space in Houston

Job description

• Since Axiom Space is a very complex work environment, we are looking for a resilient, high-energy Electrical Power System Engineer who understands power electronics deeply enough to engage with the people who build it, and who can turn that understanding into requirements, models, interface documents, and review products that withstand customer, partner, and supplier scrutiny.
• The Axiom Space Station power architecture is a regulated 120 V dual bus system: solar array regulation as the first bus forming stage, isolated conversion as the second, high voltage energy storage with charge and discharge regulation, secondary conversion to 120 V and 28 V, and protected load distribution through latching current limiters, all of it distributed across module boundaries and across berthing and docking interfaces. The person in this seat owns assigned segments of that architecture end to end: the requirement, the analysis that backs it, the interface that exposes it, the supplier that builds it, and the test that proves it.

Responsibilities

• Own assigned segments of the Electrical Power System requirement baseline. Author verifiable requirements that state system properties rather than implementations, maintain traceability and verification methods, and close TBD, TBC, and TBR items with named owners and closing events.
• Model the system and produce the analyses that decisions depend on: power and energy budgets, load flow and voltage drop, transient and step load response, bus stability, fault current and protection coordination, inrush and capacitive load management, harness sizing, and efficiency and dissipation rollups.
• Evaluate power conversion approaches and their system level consequences, including control behavior, current sharing, efficiency, mass, thermal, and electromagnetic signature, and review and challenge supplier designs at that level.
• Author and maintain power quality specifications for both sides of the interface: steady state voltage limits, ripple and noise, transient envelopes, stability criteria, and the limits imposed on power consuming equipment.
• Author and maintain interface control documents at module to module, visiting vehicle, payload, and equipment level, and drive interface agreement with internal subsystems, international partners, and external customers.
• Contribute to grounding, bonding, isolation, and ground fault detection architecture, and coordinate with the EMC control program on control plan compliance, test tailoring, and non-compliance disposition.
• Lead supplier technical engagement: procurement specifications and statements of work, request for proposal technical content, rough order of magnitude and proposal evaluation, technical exchange meetings, supplier data package review, deviation and waiver disposition, and negotiation of technical scope and interface responsibility.
• Plan and support verification: verification matrices, test requirements and procedures, laboratory and engineering model test campaigns, power quality and stability measurement, fault insertion, and data reduction against acceptance criteria.
• Prepare, present, and defend material at SRR, PDR, CDR, Test Readiness Review, and Manufacturing Readiness Review, including to NASA and international partner audiences, and drive actions to closure.
• Mentor junior engineers, review their analyses and documents, and raise the technical standard of the team rather than only your own output.
• Communicate progress, status, risk, and options to stakeholders and leadership.
• Perform additional job duties as assigned.

Requirements

• To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Education & Experience
• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in Electrical Engineering or equivalent. Advanced degree preferred.
• Level 4: 8 or more years of experience in spacecraft, aerospace, or high reliability electrical power systems engineering.
• Level 5: 12 or more years, including at least one program carried from requirements definition through Critical Design Review or later. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
• Demonstrated depth in power electronics: DC to DC conversion, control loop behavior and stability, protection devices and coordination, and the practical failure modes of each.
• Demonstrated system modeling capability using Simulink, PLECS, PSIM, Saber, SPICE class tools, Python, or equivalent, with the judgment to know which questions a model can address.
• Proven ability to author engineering documentation that withstands external review: requirement specifications, interface control documents, power quality specifications, analysis reports, and verification plans and procedures.
• Experience working requirements in a managed environment such as Jama, DOORS, or equivalent.
• Direct experience leading technical negotiation with suppliers and subcontractors, including specification development, proposal evaluation, and design review of supplier data.
• Hands on familiarity with electrical test equipment and laboratory practice, including oscilloscopes, electronic loads, programmable supplies, and power analyzers.
• Track record of delivering outcomes in ambiguous, fast-moving environments, and of delivering high quality results under tight deadlines.
• · Uses good judgement to problem-solve proactively, positively impacting hard challenges
• · Demonstrated organization skills to meet tight deadlines with high quality results
• · Passion for space and the mission
• · Entrepreneurial, growth mindset
• · High EQ and ability to collaborate within teams and cross-functionally
• · Tech-solutioning in using systems and tools to move smarter and faster
• Embody our core values of leadership, innovation, and teamwork. In addition, to perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:
• · Accountability
• · Technical Rigor
• · Execution Discipline
• · Pride of Delivery
• This position may require access to export controlled technical data or technology subject to NASA regulations, International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), or Export Administration Regulations (EAR). In accordance with U.S. export control laws, final candidates may be required to undergo additional export control screening to determine eligibility for access. Meeting these requirements is a condition of employment.
• Management has the prerogative to select at any level for which the position is advertised
• Must be willing to work evenings and weekends as needed to meet critical project milestones
• Human spaceflight or crewed vehicle experience.
• Familiarity with ISS power interface standards and practices, including SSP 30237, SSP 52051, NASA-STD-4003, and MSFC-STD-3790.
• Experience with high voltage DC distribution, solid state power controllers, and arc and fault protection in a spacecraft context.
• Experience with grounding, bonding, isolation architecture, and EMC control programs, including MIL-STD-461 test campaigns.
• Experience with energy storage systems and their integration into a regulated bus.
• Experience with orbital replaceable unit design, sparing strategy, and on orbit maintenance concepts.
• INCOSE certification, or an equivalent demonstrated systems engineering practice.

Skills

Preferred

• Energy storage systems integration