Senior Avionics Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

Senior Avionics Engineer - Own the electronics stack from architecture through flight

Alameda, California | On-site

Opportunity Summary

Join a fast-growing seed-stage space and defense startup developing a novel high-speed vehicle and launch platform. The company has recently gained significant funding momentum, is executing on active government programs, and is expanding its engineering team as it moves through increasingly complex test and flight campaigns. As a Senior Avionics Engineer, you will own the vehicle's avionics architecture from early design through integration, qualification, and flight. This includes flight computing, embedded electronics, onboard sensing, telemetry, communications, power, flight termination, and the test infrastructure required to validate the full system. The environment is unusually demanding, with electronics required to survive extreme acceleration, shock, thermal conditions, and high-speed flight.

About Us

We are a venture-backed space and defense startup developing a new approach to launching and accelerating high-speed vehicles. The team is moving quickly from prototype hardware into larger-scale testing and government-backed programs, creating opportunities for engineers to take meaningful ownership across design, build, test, and flight. With recent fundraising traction and a growing portfolio of funded work, the company is scaling across multiple technical disciplines.

Job Duties

• Own the overall vehicle avionics architecture, including flight computers, command and data handling, communications interfaces, and onboard electronics
• Develop embedded electronics capable of operating through extreme acceleration, shock, vibration, and high-speed flight environments
• Design and integrate flight hardware including circuit boards, processors, sensors, power electronics, communications systems, and supporting electronics
• Lead PCB development from schematic capture and component selection through layout, board bring-up, debug, and qualification
• Own the vehicle's sensor and data acquisition architecture, including signal conditioning, onboard processing, and data storage
• Develop telemetry and communications systems including RF hardware integration, antennas, link budgets, and downlink architecture
• Support spectrum planning and coordination for flight and test operations
• Own avionics power architecture including battery selection, power distribution, regulation, and qualification for extreme environments
• Support development and qualification of flight termination and range-safety electronics
• Build and maintain hardware-in-the-loop and software-in-the-loop test environments for avionics, software, and GNC integration
• Plan and execute qualification testing across high-g, thermal, shock, vibration, and other environmental conditions
• Develop instrumentation and data acquisition systems supporting ground testing and flight campaigns
• Analyze test and flight data to identify performance issues and drive design improvements
• Maintain clear technical documentation covering architecture, interfaces, test results, and qualification status
• Work directly with mechanical, GNC, software, test, and systems engineers throughout vehicle development

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent hands-on avionics experience
• 4+ years of experience developing electronics or avionics for aerospace, defense, robotics, automotive, or another demanding hardware environment
• Strong embedded systems experience including C/C++, microcontrollers, firmware development, and RTOS or bare-metal environments
• Experience designing and bringing up custom PCBs
• Proficiency with schematic capture and multilayer board layout tools such as Altium, KiCad, or similar
• Hands-on electronics laboratory experience including soldering, wiring, board debug, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and bench power equipment
• Ability to troubleshoot integrated hardware and software systems during fast-moving test campaigns
• Ability to work on-site in Alameda and periodically travel to remote test locations
• U.S. Person status required due to export-controlled technical information

Preferred Experience

• Aerospace, space, or defense avionics development
• RF communications, telemetry, antennas, transceivers, or link-budget analysis
• Power electronics, battery systems, or high-reliability power architecture
• Electronics designed for high-g, shock, vibration, or other severe operating environments
• MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-461, or comparable environmental and electromagnetic qualification
• HIL or SIL test system development
• Flight test instrumentation, DAQ systems, and signal conditioning
• Flight software or GNC integration
• Python or MATLAB for test automation, analysis, or data reduction
• Experience supporting hardware through qualification testing and flight

Why Join Us

• Significant ownership over a complete vehicle avionics system
• Opportunity to develop hardware from initial architecture through real-world testing and flight
• Equity participation in an early-stage company
• Comprehensive health and dental insurance
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid time off and paid sick leave
• Professional development opportunities
• Work directly with a growing engineering team on active government-backed programs and technically challenging hardware

Compensation Details

$150,000 - $190,000

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