Apex Space
Staff Electric Propulsion Engineer, Cathodes
$165K–$226K
Los Angeles · On-site · Staff · Full-time · Posted Sep 25, 2026
- Experience
- 10+ years of relevant electric propulsion experience with a Bachelor's or Master's degree, OR a Ph.D. in electric propulsion, plasma physics, applied physics, or a closely related field with 5+ years of relevant industry experience.
- Education
- Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, plasma/propulsion engineering, applied physics, or a related field. A Ph.D. in electric propulsion, plasma physics, applied physics, or a closely related field is an alternative experience pathway.
- Visa sponsorship
- Applicants must qualify as a U.S. Person or be able to obtain required export authorizations from the applicable U.S. government agency.
About the job
Owns the design, qualification, testing, and production scaling of cathodes for Apex’s electric propulsion systems, while providing technical leadership and mentorship.
What you'll do
- Lead cathode design, modeling, testing, life qualification, and cathode-thruster integration.
- Qualify materials and processes, improve manufacturability, and support flight-hardware testing and production.
- Set the cathode technical roadmap, resolve failures, and mentor propulsion engineers.
What they ask for
- Must meet the stated export-control eligibility: qualify as a U.S. Person or be able to obtain required export authorizations.
- Bachelor’s degree in a related field; experience alternatives are 10+ years of relevant electric propulsion experience with a Bachelor’s or Master’s, or a Ph.D. in a related field with 5+ years of relevant industry experience.
- Substantial hands-on expertise in hollow and/or heaterless cathode physics, design, development, and testing.
- Experience executing cathode or electric propulsion test campaigns in vacuum facilities, including diagnostics and life/wear testing.
Nice to have
- Experience taking cathode or electric propulsion hardware through flight qualification and on-orbit operation.
- Design-for-manufacturing experience bringing propulsion hardware into serial or high-rate production.
Pay
$165K – $226K USD base salary
Tools
LaB6, BaO-impregnated tungsten, Hall-effect thruster, PPU, TVAC, EMI
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative