About NordSpace
NordSpace (https://nordspace.com) is a Canadian startup with the mission to advance life on Earth, from space. NordSpace is committed to extremely rapid innovation and development of the most ambitious aerospace projects with the most ambitious team. With divisions spanning everything from space robotics to satellites to rockets, NordSpace is driven to bring space closer to Earth and inspire generations of space explorers.
About the Role
As a Plasma Physicist on the Electric Propulsion team, you will own the physics of NordSpace’s in-space electric propulsion systems, from discharge design and plasma modelling through to thruster qualification on the test stand. You will lead the plasma-physics case for our Hall effect thruster line, setting magnetic field topology, channel geometry, and cathode and neutralizer design, and grounding those choices in simulation and measurement rather than heritage scaling alone. You will build and run the plasma diagnostics capability that turns vacuum-chamber test campaigns into physical understanding, and translate that understanding into thruster performance, lifetime, and spacecraft-integration guidance. This is a hands-on senior technical role for someone who wants to see their models fly.
Core Responsibilities
Plasma Physics & Thruster Design
- Own the plasma-physics design of Hall effect thrusters and related electric propulsion concepts, including discharge channel geometry, magnetic field topology, anode and propellant injection design, and cathode and neutralizer selection.
- Develop and apply plasma models (fluid, hybrid PIC-DSMC, and fully kinetic PIC as appropriate) to predict discharge behaviour, ionization and acceleration efficiency, plume structure, and erosion-driven lifetime.
- Define and defend the performance envelope of each thruster (thrust, specific impulse, total efficiency, throttling range, throughput) and trace it to physical mechanisms rather than empirical scaling alone.
- Lead trade studies across thruster class and propellant options (xenon, krypton, and alternatives), quantifying the impact on performance, PPU requirements, tankage, and mission-level delta-v budgets.
- Translate plasma-physics findings into requirements and interface specifications for the power processing unit, propellant feed system, thermal design, and spacecraft accommodation.
Diagnostics, Test & Model Validation
- Design and lead vacuum-chamber test campaigns, defining test objectives, operating matrices, facility-effect mitigations, and pass/fail criteria for development, qualification, and life testing.
- Specify, build, and operate plasma diagnostics, including Langmuir and emissive probes, Faraday and Wien filter probes, retarding potential analyzers, thrust stands, optical emission spectroscopy, laser-induced fluorescence, and high-speed discharge current measurement.
- Characterize discharge oscillations and instabilities (breathing mode, azimuthal spoke, rotating structures) and their coupling to the PPU, and recommend mitigations at the thruster and controller level.
- Reduce and interpret test data, validate and calibrate models against it, and quantify uncertainty so that model-based predictions can be used with confidence in design decisions.
- Assess and document plume divergence, contamination, sputtering, and EMI/spacecraft-charging effects, and support the resulting spacecraft integration and compatibility analyses.
- This role is based on-site and involves regular work in a high-voltage, high-vacuum laboratory environment, with occasional travel to external test facilities and launch campaigns.
Technical Leadership & Programme Support
- Act as the technical authority on plasma physics for the propulsion group, providing direction and review to junior engineers, technicians, and interns without a formal reporting line.
- Own the physics content of design reviews, verification and validation plans, and qualification test reports, and support anomaly investigations and root-cause analysis with Quality Assurance.
- Maintain configuration control and traceability of models, analysis cases, and test data, and keep requirements and issue records current in tools such as Jira within an Agile/Scrum workflow.
- Track the state of the art in electric propulsion, evaluate external components and facilities, and contribute to publications, patents, and technical proposals where appropriate.
Qualifications
- PhD in Plasma Physics, Applied Physics, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a closely related field, with a dissertation or equivalent body of work in low-temperature plasmas, electric propulsion, or plasma diagnostics. Masters degree with relevant experience will also be considered.
- Demonstrated hands-on experience with electric propulsion devices — Hall effect thrusters strongly preferred; gridded ion, magnetically shielded, cusped-field, or arcjet/MPD experience also relevant — including operation in a vacuum facility.
- Strong command of plasma modelling methods and the ability to implement or extend simulation codes, with proficiency in Python and at least one compiled language (C++, Fortran, or equivalent); familiarity with PIC, hybrid, or fluid plasma codes and with magnetostatic tools such as FEMM, COMSOL, or ANSYS Maxwell.
- Practical experience designing and executing plasma diagnostics and interpreting noisy experimental data, including probe theory and its limitations in high-magnetic-field, high-density regimes.
- Working knowledge of high-vacuum systems, cryogenic pumping, propellant feed hardware, high-voltage practice, and the associated safety requirements.
- Familiarity with systems engineering practice — requirements, interfaces, configuration control, verification and validation — and with space qualification standards (e.g. ECSS, AIAA S-120, or MIL-STD-1540) is an asset.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a track record of peer-reviewed publication or equivalent technical reporting, and the ability to explain physics clearly to engineers outside the specialty.
- A proactive, hands-on attitude and the ability to move quickly and rigorously in a fast-paced startup environment where the same person may write the model and turn the wrench.
This posting is for an existing vacancy. Thank you to all who apply. Candidates who are successfully selected for an interview will be notified by email.
Applicants must be legally authorized to work in Canada and able to obtain and maintain a security assessment under the Controlled Goods Program (Defence Production Act) as a condition of their employment.
Compensation will be determined at the Company’s discretion, based on job-related factors, which may include, but are not limited to, relevant knowledge, skills, experience, and education and/or training. NordSpace encourages all qualified applicants to apply, even if the posted salary range does not align with their expectations.
NordSpace is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from all qualified candidates; all hiring decisions are based on merit and job-related qualifications, without discrimination on any ground protected by the Ontario Human Rights Code. Accommodations are available on request at any stage of the selection process — please contact
[email protected].
