Job Description

EMC Engineer

Department: Avionics

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Hawthorne, California

Reporting To: Kevin Drumm

Compensation: $135,000 - $187,000 / year

Venturi Astrolab, Inc. (Astrolab) is pioneering new ways to explore and operate on distant planetary bodies. We are singularly focused on designing, building, and operating a fleet of multi-purpose commercial planetary rovers to extend and enhance humanity’s presence in the solar system. We are seeking motivated, creative, and exceptional people to join our world-class team.

As an EMC Engineer, you will be responsible for ensuring Avionics components are designed to endure the harsh electromagnetic environmental effects of interplanetary space. You will play a pivotal role in defining the design criteria for state-of-the-art avionics and electro-mechanical systems for the lunar surface with a strong focus on electromagnetic compatibility, in-space charging effects, and interdisciplinary requirements. You will be joining a company at the ground-level and have immense influence over the future of lunar exploration.

What you'll do:

• Collaborate closely within cross-functional Engineering teams to capture requirements, lead design trades with respect to EMI/EMC, and integrate the design into the rover systems.
• Contribute to full avionics and electro-mechanical systems/subsystems from system to component level with specific focus on E3 design criteria and operational/survivability requirements.
• Analyze and contribute to designs relating to the effects of circuit and power system grounding architectures, structural electrical bonding, circuit isolation, shielding effectiveness, radiated/conducted emissions and susceptibility, near field/far field electromagnetics, transient protection, signal and power integrity, and general RF compatibility.
• Troubleshoot EMI issues from board to system level.
• Operate and automate a variety of EMI, RF, and electronics test equipment (spectrum analyzers, network analyzers, signal generation, oscilloscopes) within the context of avionics development and in house EMC testing.
• Create and update technical documentation including command media, system diagrams, schematics, interface control documents, procedures, work and/or build orders, vendor and payload requirements, and test/anomaly reports.
• Support flight hardware component qualification and spacecraft integration testing, including production issue dispositions, troubleshooting failures, and managing overall spacecraft risk.

What you'll bring:

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, physics, or other engineering discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in EMI/EMC requirements, analysis, design, and testing for spacecraft systems and/or avionics component design (academic and personal projects apply).
• Proficient in the use of lab equipment such as oscilloscopes, multimeters, signal generators, logic analyzers, etc.
• Proficient with Analytics/Modeling/Simulation tools such as LTSpice, and experience with electrical circuit analysis using simulation tools such as Spice or equivalent.
• Familiarity with SMC-S-016 testing requirements, and testing per SMC-S-016.
• Knowledge of electrical safety and EMC commercial compliance standards and/or testing.
• MIL-STD-461 experience across the full range of EMC test (radiated susceptibility, radiated emissions, conducted susceptibility, conducted emissions) standards.
• Experience in high power avionics system designs for spacecraft including: LDO Regulators, Buck/Boost converters, power line filters and various spacecraft grounding schemes for high voltage systems.
• Experience in motor controller system designs for brushless DC motors (BLDC) and permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM) in both low and high voltage systems.
• Ability to read, interpret and follow circuit schematics, PCB layouts, engineering drawings, BOMs, cable harnesses, wiring schematics, interface diagrams, layout drawings, mechanical drawings, and CAD software.
• Creative problem solver that can assess risk and make collaborative design and development decisions.
• Strong presentation experience in highly technical design forums and reviews (Preliminary Design Reviews, Critical Design Reviews, Flight Readiness Reviews, etc.).
• Experience with NX or similar CAD software including electrical harness routing.
• Experience with vehicle level testing including writing test procedures, creating robust and efficient test sequencing, and analytical data review to evaluate hardware health.

What We Offer:

• Join a team of best-in-class engineers building the foundation of planetary surface exploration
• Equity ownership in the company
• Comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and mental health support
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Flexible PTO and parental leave
• Home office set-up reimbursement
• Fully flexible and remote-friendly work environment
• Weekly lunch stipend, plus complimentary snacks and beverages on-site
• Twice a month, social hour on-site with food and drinks