Principal Solar Design Engineer

The role

You will define how K2 develops, designs, manufactures, tests, and deploys high-power solar arrays at production scale. This involves managing electrical and mechanical architecture, system design, and lifecycle performance margins.

What you will do

• Delivery of the solar array electrical and mechanical architecture, system design, and lifecycle performance margins.
• Development of the electrical system performance degradation characterization and modelling across environment variations.
• Definition and execution of assembly level acceptance and qualification testing.
• Collaborate with avionics, structures/mechanisms, software, and production teams to define solar system requirements.
• Lead design reviews and drive development schedules.
• Collaborate with leadership on staffing plans, role definitions, and recruiting efforts.
• Responsible for the evaluation and selection of manufacturing equipment for specialty processes.
• Partner with production to develop work instructions, in-process checkouts, and end-of-line tests.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in physics, materials science, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, or a related technical field
• 8+ years of experience in the design, manufacture, and test of solar arrays for space applications
• 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

Nice to have

• Experience architecting solar array systems for space applications
• Background working on multiple solar array systems with variations in cell, module, and system architecture technologies
• Experience with AIAA S111/S112, SMC-S-016, NASA-STD-5017, and NASA-STD-4005
• Experience designing solar arrays for resilience to exposure to radiation environments
• Demonstrated understanding of structural analysis and failure modes of complex mechanical systems in space environments and operations
• Demonstrated understanding of high voltage solar array degradation analysis and failure modes
• Independent and self-motivated mindset, with strong organizational, written, and oral communication skills across disciplines

Benefits

• Paid time off
• Medical/dental/vision coverage
• Life insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Many other perks

Before you apply

• Must be a U.S. person or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license due to ITAR regulations

About the company

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown for missions from LEO to deep space. The company is mass-producing high-power satellite platforms and is a high-growth Series D-funded company.