About the Company

At AstroForge, our mission is to expand humanity’s capabilities to utilize the untapped resources in space. As an engineering physicist, you will help develop, build, and test refinery technologies which will enable the extraction of valuable materials from asteroids for the first time. Join the team responsible for the R&D, conceptual design, physics requirements, and operation and maintenance of AstroForge’s refinery.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with engineers to ensure that system build-out accomplishes physics goals
• Build out simulations and analysis to characterize and optimize our refinery payload
• Support prototyping, bring-up, debugging, manufacturing of our refinery payload system.
• Build development and qualification testing campaigns in order to exercise designs to their limits
• Review experimental and simulation data to help with iteration of design
• Research novel techniques in the refining and extraction of materials in space

Basic Qualifications

• Minimum Master’s Degree in Physics or related science or engineering discipline, PhD preferred *
• 5+ years of laboratory and/or industry experience *
• Demonstrated ability to design, analyze, operate, build, and test complex systems
• Ability to translate developing physics into meaningful specifications and requirements for the mechanical, electrical, and systems designs
• Ability to collaborate on related as well as outside of expertise projects

* If you feel you can be successful at this position but don’t meet the minimum qualifications, we strongly encourage you to apply.

Required Skills and Experience

• Understanding of plasma and particle physics concepts
• Demonstrated ability to work in a highly cross-functional role
• Ability to work in an autonomously driven and demanding startup atmosphere
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, self-motivation, ability to work independently and lead a team
• Experience with lasers, optics, and photonics
• Develop requirements for AF systems based on sound physics analysis
• Ability to identify and correct shortcomings in proposals and designs
• Willingness to rapidly gain new knowledge and to identify new approaches
• Experience with mechanical design, fabrication/machining, manufacturing, and component assembly

Additional Requirements

• Extended hours, day or night shift, and weekend work may be required to support critical project and mission milestones

Benefits

• Strong healthcare and life insurance coverage.
• 2 weeks of PTO + 1 week of sick time.
• Retirement savings plan – 401(k), with company match.
• Office stipend to make your workspace your own!
• Equity on the ground floor of a startup.

Salary

• $200k+