We are seeking a highly skilled Test Engineer III to join the Space Resources Program at our Los Angeles facility. This role focuses on early product life cycle development and technology de-risking for flight-like and high-TRL systems operating at high voltage, high current, and high temperature in vacuum and inert gas environments.
Requirements
- Lead early-life-cycle technology de-risking
- Translate ambiguous performance and reliability questions into testable hypotheses and structured test plans
- Identify key physics and engineering risks (thermal, electrical, materials, vacuum, contamination) and design experiments to de-risk them early
- Apply first-principles reasoning to bound expected behavior and define success criteria
- Design and operate tests in extreme environments
- Develop and execute tests involving high-power electrical components, high-temperature materials, joints, and coatings, including thermal cycling and long-duration high-temperature exposure
- Implement and validate safety interlocks, grounding, shielding, and safe operating envelopes for high-energy systems
- Develop test architecture, procedures, and safety documentation
- Lead the development, documentation, and continuous improvement of test plans, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Job Hazard Analyses (JHAs), and test readiness checklists
- Conduct and lead Test Readiness Reviews (TRRs), ensuring all systems and subsystems satisfy technical and safety requirements
- Champion Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) best practices for high-voltage and high-temperature testing in vacuum and inert gas environments
- Design and build hardware and test fixtures
- Design, analyze at appropriate fidelity, and assemble custom test fixtures and experimental hardware to support unique R&D test campaigns
- Select materials and processes suitable for high temperature and vacuum/argon exposure (e.g., refractory metals, ceramics, seals, feedthroughs, insulators, brazes, welds, adhesives)
- Create and review CAD models and drawings and coordinate fabrication with internal or external machine shops
- Manage instrumentation, controls, and data acquisition
- Specify and integrate sensors and instrumentation (such as thermocouples, RTDs, pyrometers, pressure gauges, flow meters, voltage and current probes)
- Configure and operate data acquisition (DAQ) and basic control systems for automated or semi-automated testing
- Modify existing DAQ/control scripts (e.g., LabVIEW, Python, or similar) to support new test needs, custom sequences, or safety logic
- Troubleshoot and perform failure analysis
- Diagnose issues in custom and commercial test systems (hardware, wiring, software, vacuum, thermal performance) using a methodical, physics-based approach
- Perform root cause and failure analysis on test anomalies, including post-test and post-flight inspection and data review
- Translate findings into design updates, test improvements, or new requirements for flight-like systems
- Collaborate and communicate across disciplines
- Work closely with mechanical, electrical, materials, and systems engineers to align test objectives with product requirements
- Clearly communicate test methods, limitations, and results to a broad engineering audience, including uncertainty quantification and comparison to models
- Mentor and guide team members in test operations, safety practices, and first-principles problem solving
- Support laboratory operations
- Oversee the installation, operation, and maintenance of vacuum chambers, furnaces, high-current power supplies, and associated test infrastructure
- Manage laboratory chemical and material waste, coordinating proper disposal procedures with EHS
- Maintain a clean, organized, and safe lab environment suitable for frequent R&D iteration
Benefits
- Medical
- Dental
- Vision
- Basic and supplemental life insurance
- Paid parental leave
- Short and long-term disability
- 401(k) with a company match of up to 5%
- Education Support Program
- Paid Time Off: Up to four (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays
