Senior Electric Propulsion Engineer

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 sp

Benefits

Additional Information

Role highlights: Role: Senior Electric Propulsion Engineer Department: Spacecraft Analysis, Orbit and Attitude Control Location: Espoo, Finland Reports to : Engineering Lead, AOCS Hardware Working type: Hybrid Employment is subject to applicable security screening (incl. SUPO, where required) The Mission of the Senior Electric Propulsion Engineer You will bring your expertise in electric propulsion to shape the future of in-space mobility for ICEYE's Earth-Observation satellite fleet. As a senior member of the AOCS Hardware team, you will play a central role in the design, integration, qualification and flight support of ICEYE's Hall Effect Thruster (HET) propulsion systems and their supporting subsystems. You will own the engineering and maturation of propulsion peripheral systems (including FCU, feed and tank systems, PPUs, valves, cabling and associated electronics), ensuring robust performance, testability and production readiness across flight programs. Working closely across disciplines and with external partners, you will lead activities from early concept and trade-offs through qualification, production and on-orbit operations. Who are we? ICEYE delivers space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities to governments and allied nations. This includes sovereign and turnkey ISR missions leveraging ICEYE's world-leading synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite technology, as well as access to data from the world's largest SAR satellite constellation. These capabilities enable partners to detect and respond to critical changes anywhere on Earth with unprecedented speed and accuracy - day or night and in any weather, supported by ultra high-resolution imagery and high-frequency revisits. As a trusted partner for defense, intelligence, security, and maritime domain awareness, ICEYE's near real-time data creates a tactical advantage for mission-critical operations. Designed for dual use, the platform also serves civil protection and commercial users for natural-catastrophe intelligence, insurance, maritime monitoring (including oil-spill detection), and finance, contributing to global security and community resilience. ICEYE is headquartered in Finland and operates globally across Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. We have more than 900 employees, united by a shared vision: improving life on Earth by becoming the global source of truth in Earth Observation. 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.

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