Original listing text, shown exactly as published by the company.
Day to day responsibilities
- Lead subsystem architecture, preliminary design and performance trade-offs for HET propulsion systems, considering mission, spacecraft and operational constraints.
- Define requirements, interfaces and verification strategies for propulsion subsystems, ensuring seamless integration with avionics, mechanical, thermal and GNC systems.
- Perform analytical modeling and simulation of HET behavior, including plasma/beam physics, plume effects, thermal interactions and spacecraft contamination considerations.
- Own on-ground and in-flight characterization and validation of propulsion performance (thrust, specific impulse, efficiency, plume interactions, erosion and lifetime) across functional, environmental and lifetime test campaigns.
- Design, specify and operate required ground test facilities and infrastructure, including vacuum systems, feed/power systems, diagnostics and safety controls.
- Define qualification, acceptance and production-readiness criteria, driving the transition of matured subsystems into repeatable flight builds with robust test and inspection flows.
- Monitor on-orbit propulsion performance, lead anomaly investigations and feed lessons learned back into design and production improvements.
- Manage technical interfaces with suppliers, partners and research institutions, ensuring strong documentation and regulatory/qualification compliance.
Requirements
Must have skills
- MSc or PhD in Aerospace Engineering, Plasma Physics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
- 6+ years of experience with electric propulsion systems (preferably Hall Effect Thrusters) across design, testing or operations.
- Strong foundation in plasma physics, electric propulsion modeling and spacecraft system integration.
- Experience designing or evaluating propulsion power systems and interfaces (including PPUs and high-voltage architectures).
- Proficiency with analytical and numerical tools for plasma, thermal or fluid simulations (e.g., COMSOL, ANSYS, SPIS, MATLAB).
- Hands-on experience with propulsion laboratory testing, plasma diagnostics and high-voltage instrumentation, including safe operation of vacuum and contamination-controlled environments.
- Ability to work effectively across mechanical, avionics, GNC and systems disciplines, with strong communication skills.
Nice to have skills
- Experience leading qualification or flight-certification test campaigns for propulsion subsystems.
- Familiarity with high-voltage design, thermal vacuum testing, lifetime/erosion testing and spacecraft contamination control.
- Proficiency in Python and Git for data analysis or tooling; C/C++ experience for collaboration with flight software teams is a plus.
- Experience managing suppliers and translating R&D hardware into production-ready, flight-qualified designs and documentation.
Application process
- Talent Acquisition Interview
- Hiring Manager Interview
- Technical Interview (onsite or virtual), including a Technical Task
- On-site Interview
Working at ICEYEAt ICEYE, you’ll join a diverse and highly engaged team united by the ambition to make the impossible possible. As a global scale-up, we combine speed and ambition with the opportunity to take real ownership from day one. Your growth, wellbeing, and success are a priority, with continuous professional development, training opportunities, and a culture where collaboration is how we win.
How We Work (Our Values)Make the impossible possible: We set ambitious goals and stay calm under pressure. We bring grit, optimism, and ownership when things get hard, and we keep moving until we find a way.
- Be curious: Go deep, ask questions, listen carefully, and think critically. Understand the “why” behind decisions.
- See the big picture: Stay close to what’s happening across the company so you can make better decisions. Consider how your work affects others.
- Drive effective teamwork: Create psychological safety, invite different perspectives, and build inclusive teams. There are no bad questions.
- Act as one team: We win together. We match tasks to the right owner and stay agile as priorities shift.
- Have fun: What we do matters—and it should be enjoyable. Celebrate progress, take pride in results, and share the wins.
