LEAD ENGINEER - SR. RESEARCH ENGINEER - Spaceflight Instrumentation Engineer - Durham, NH

Who We Are:

The SwRI Department of Earth, Oceans, and Space (located on the University of New Hampshire campus in Durham, NH) offers exciting aerospace engineering opportunities. We offer a unique collaborative environment involving scientists and engineers at both SwRI and UNH. We design and fabricate spaceflight hardware, including new instrumentation and custom-designed avionics. Active programs include science missions (funded by NASA and NOAA) in space weather, heliophysics, astrophysics, and Earth science, as well as commercial spaceflight programs.

Objectives of this Role:

• Lead and support the design, analysis, verification, and testing of digital and analog electronics for spaceflight instrumentation, with an emphasis on FPGA-based electronics and firmware for detector readout, data acquisition, command and control, signal processing, and comms.
• Participate in instrument electronics development from architecture and requirements definition through detailed design, fabrication, integration, verification, and delivery.
• Design, develop, and bring up spaceflight circuit boards, including high-speed digital interfaces, memory interfaces, and power distribution, and support detector and focal-plane electronics such as MCP detectors and CCD/CMOS sensors.
• Work with multidisciplinary science and engineering teams to establish instrument requirements, develop electrical architectures, and ensure designs meet instrument and spacecraft interface and performance requirements.
• Participate in technical reviews, provide engineering documentation and technical justification to customers, and contribute to proposals, internal R&D, and maturation of new electronics and instrumentation technologies.

Daily and Monthly Responsibilities:

• Lead and support the design, development, and implementation of digital electronics and FPGA firmware for spaceflight instrumentation, including detector readout, data acquisition, command and control, and signal processing.
• Design, fabricate, bring up, and test electronic circuit boards and associated hardware, including high-speed digital interfaces, memory interfaces, power distribution, and supporting analog circuitry.
• Work with scientists and multidisciplinary engineering teams to translate instrument requirements into electrical architectures and hardware designs, ensuring compatibility with detector systems, spacecraft interfaces, and payload requirements.
• Lead and support electronics integration, verification, and testing throughout the instrument development lifecycle, from initial design through hardware delivery.
• Participate in internal and customer design reviews.

Requirements:

• Requires a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering or Aerospace Engineering. Advanced degree preferred.
• 5+ years: Demonstrated experience designing spaceflight electronics, including digital design and hands-on FPGA development in VHDL or Verilog.
• Experience with PCB design, assembly, and bring-up as well as integration, verification, and lab testing.
• Proficient experience collaborating with science and engineering teams.
• A valid/clear driver's license is required.