{"id":338901,"url":"https://alion.io/job/cowboyspace-senior-controls-engineer","title":"Senior Controls Engineer","company":{"id":8929,"name":"Cowboy Space","domain":"cowboyspace.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/cowboyspace","size_band":"501-1000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":5,"ghost_share":0.2,"stale_share":0.4,"repost_share":0.2,"time_to_fill_p50_days":48,"computed_at":"2026-11-02T06:13:15Z"}},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":"senior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Kent, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":165000,"max":190000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":190000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":3,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Design Controls","optional":false},{"name":"PID Control","optional":false},{"name":"TPU","optional":false},{"name":"EtherCAT","optional":true},{"name":"MATLAB","optional":true},{"name":"Python","optional":true},{"name":"Simulink","optional":true},{"name":"SpaceWire","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-02T23:28:21Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-15","last_verified_at":"2026-11-02T08:17:38Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":60,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":60},"description":"About Cowboy Space Corp:\nMission\nCowboy Space Corporation is solving the global energy crisis by building the infrastructure for abundant, resilient space-based solar energy. We are tackling one of humanity’s most complex engineering challenges with a world-class team dedicated to delivering a revolutionary power platform. Cowboy Space Corporation is transforming how civilization powers, computes and connects - from orbit to Earth.\nBackground\nCowboy Space Corporation is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our modular, scalable satellites collect sunlight in Low Earth Orbit to enable multiple integrated applications: transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-space), powering on-orbit high-performance computing clusters (GPU/TPU), and providing secure, high bandwidth optical data transport.\nCurrent energy and data systems rely on complex logistics and outdated infrastructure. Cowboy Space Corporation overcomes these challenges by enabling direct, on-demand, secure, and scalable energy distribution and data processing from space. This will revolutionize how we operate in orbit and on Earth, supporting the rapidly expanding space industrial base, ISAM (In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing) operations, remote regions, and military bases.\nBaiju Bhatt founded Cowboy Space Corporation in 2024. Inspired by his father’s work with NASA Langley Research Center, Baiju earned his B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Mathematics at Stanford before co-founding Robinhood, now a public company that has helped over 20 million Americans access the financial system. Cowboy Space Corporation has raised ~$365 million from Index Ventures, Interlagos, Construct Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, and others.\nThis is an ambitious mission that demands extraordinary talent. Cowboy Space Corporation’s team has worked at places like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space, Astranis and NASA, and is based in San Carlos, CA. If you're ready to solve complex technical challenges and help build the most important energy company in the world, we want to hear from you.\nAbout the Role:\nYou will design and develop motor controls, automation sequences, and embedded control systems for the vehicle’s fluid systems. This includes motor-driven valve and pump actuation, automated fill/drain/vent/conditioning sequences, and closed-loop control of fluid subsystems across propulsion, pressurization, and thermal management. You will work at the intersection of electrical, mechanical, and software engineering to deliver robust, flight-ready control solutions from concept through integration and operations.\nResponsibilities:\nDesign and implement motor control systems for electrically actuated valves and pumps, interfacing with drive electronics, feedback sensing, and control algorithms.\n\nDevelop automated sequences for propellant fill, drain, vent, and conditioning operations on both vehicle and ground support equipment.\n\nArchitect and implement closed-loop control for fluid system parameters (pressure, temperature, flow rate, liquid level) across propulsion and thermal subsystems.\n\nSelect and integrate actuators, motors, encoders, position sensors, and pressure/temperature instrumentation for fluid system control.\n\nDesign control electronics hardware (motor drivers, power stages, sensor interfaces) or define requirements for electrical engineering partners.\n\nDevelop embedded firmware and real-time control software for fluid system controllers and sequencers.\n\nPerform system modeling and simulation to validate control strategies, predict transient behavior, and tune controller gains.\n\nDefine and execute hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and system-level test campaigns to verify control performance and fault response.\n\nDevelop fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) logic for fluid system automation to ensure safe operations during nominal and off-nominal conditions.\n\nWork closely with fluid systems, propulsion, avionics, and software teams to integrate controls into the broader vehicle architecture.\n\nSupport propulsion hot-fire testing, vehicle fill/drain operations, and ground system commissioning.\n\nInvestigate anomalies, analyze telemetry data, and iterate on control designs to improve performance and reliability.\n\nBasic Qualifications:\nBachelor’s degree in Mechatronics, Electrical, Mechanical, Aerospace, or related engineering field.\n\n3+ years of experience in controls engineering, mechatronics, or automation for hardware systems.\n\nExperience with motor control (BLDC, stepper, or brushed) including drive electronics and feedback control.\n\nExperience with PID control loops, kalman filtering, feedforward control or other control loops and estimation algorithms.\n\nProficiency in embedded programming (C/C++) for real-time control applications.\n\nExperience developing automated sequences or state machines for complex physical systems.\n\nHands-on experience integrating sensors, actuators, and control electronics into hardware assemblies.\n\nPreferred Qualifications:\nExperience with PLC/PAC programming or custom sequencing engines for ground support equipment.\n\nKnowledge of control system design tools (MATLAB/Simulink, Python, LabVIEW, or equivalent) for modeling and simulation.\n\nExperience designing or specifying motor drives and power electronics for harsh environments (vibration, thermal extremes).\n\nFamiliarity with communication protocols common in aerospace (CAN, RS-422, EtherCAT, SpaceWire).\n\nExperience with hardware-in-the-loop testing and rapid prototyping of control systems.\n\nUnderstanding of fluid system physics (pressure regulation, two-phase flow, thermal transients) as it relates to control design.\n\nExperience with launch vehicle, spacecraft, or rocket engine fluid system controls.\n\nFamiliarity with cryogenic fluid handling and the controls challenges of cryogenic environments.\n\nCompensation and Benefits\nThe salary range for this position is$165,000 - $190,000 annually. The actual base salary offered will depend on factors such as job-related skills, experience, qualifications, and internal equity.\nEquity in Cowboy Space Corp.\n\nEmployees and their eligible dependents may enroll in medical, dental, and vision insurance\n\n401(k) retirement savings plan\n\nPaid time off\n\n10 paid holidays per calendar year\n\nPaid parental leave\n\nRelocation assistance if applicable\n\nDaily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks\n\nITAR Requirements\nExport Control Requirement: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about ITAR here.\n\nDisclaimer\nThis job description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the job and position. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or all-inclusive listing of duties and responsibilities. Contents are subject to change at Cowboy Space Corp.’s discretion.\nCowboy Space Corp. is an equal employment opportunity employer. We consider individuals for employment or promotion according to their skills, abilities and experience. Cowboy Space Corp. is committed to complying with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religious creed, age, national origin, ancestry, physical, mental or developmental disability, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and medical conditions relating to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), veteran status, military status, marital or registered domestic partnership status, medical condition (including cancer or genetic characteristics), genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, as well as any other category protected by federal, state or local laws.","description_format":"text","description_chars":8022,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":3,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity","Parental leave","Relocation assistance","Retirement plans","Vision insurance"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":true,"industries":["Satellite Manufacturing","Space Services","AI Compute & Inference"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-05T17:56:40Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":35,"band":"fade","label":"Fading","p_open":1,"p_active":0.79,"p_room":0.44,"age_days":60,"expected_fill_days":48,"reasons":["conf:2","velocity","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-11-02T06:13:15Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":190000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/cowboyspace-senior-controls-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/cowboyspace-senior-controls-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-02T10:35:35Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":14675,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-03T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":8929},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=8929"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fcowboyspace-senior-controls-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fcowboyspace-senior-controls-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fcowboyspace-senior-controls-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/cowboyspace-senior-controls-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fcowboyspace-senior-controls-engineer"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":338901}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"cowboyspace.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":338901},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. Docs: https://alion.io/developers"}}