Founding Electrical Engineer

Founding Electrical Engineer - Own the Avionics Behind a New Class of Interceptor SystemsHawthorne, California | On-siteJoin a recently funded seed-stage defense technology startup developing a new class of low-cost interceptor systems for emerging airborne threats. The company has already designed, built, and demonstrated working hardware with military users and is now expanding the core engineering team as it moves from early demonstrations toward deployable systems and higher-rate production. As a Founding Electrical Engineer, you will own the vehicle's electrical and avionics architecture from initial design through board development, integration, qualification, flight testing, and production. This is a hands-on role where you will make the decisions behind the electronics, build and debug the hardware yourself, and work directly with the rest of the engineering team to turn flight-test results into better hardware quickly.About UsWe are a seed-stage defense technology company building compact interceptor systems designed to address the growing challenge of low-cost, high-volume airborne threats. Rather than adapting expensive legacy architectures, the team is developing purpose-built vehicles around speed, maneuverability, manufacturing simplicity, and significantly better cost per engagement. The company operates with a small founding team, has completed successful customer demonstrations, recently secured additional funding, and is building out the engineering organization around several high-ownership technical roles.Job DutiesOwn vehicle avionics and electrical hardware from architecture and schematic capture through PCB layout, bring-up, qualification, and flightDesign power distribution, power conversion, battery management, and motor or actuator drive electronicsIntegrate flight computers, sensors, communications hardware, actuators, and supporting electronics into a reliable vehicle-level architectureDevelop mixed-signal electronics within aggressive size, weight, power, and cost constraintsOwn grounding, shielding, signal integrity, and EMI/EMC performance across the vehicleDesign electrical hardware around manufacturability, component availability, assembly speed, and production costDevelop test fixtures and automated test infrastructure for board-level and vehicle-level verificationBuild and execute environmental qualification plans covering vibration, shock, thermal cycling, power cycling, and other flight-relevant conditionsDesign and maintain harnesses, connectors, cable assemblies, and electrical interconnectsWork directly with PCB fabricators, contract manufacturers, assemblers, and component suppliers to improve lead times and control costSupport vehicle integration, ground testing, and flight testingLead electrical troubleshooting, teardown, root-cause analysis, and corrective actions following testingDefine electrical interfaces and system requirements alongside mechanical, propulsion, embedded software, autonomy, and guidance engineersContinuously improve existing hardware while making sound decisions about when a subsystem should be redesigned rather than incrementally modifiedQualificationsDemonstrated experience taking electrical hardware from schematic and PCB design through bring-up, integration, and a deployed, shipped, or flight-tested systemStrong experience with schematic capture and PCB layout toolsSolid foundation in analog, digital, power, and mixed-signal electronicsExperience designing power conversion, power distribution, motor control, actuator drive, or similar high-power electronicsStrong hands-on debugging skills using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power supplies, and other laboratory equipmentWorking knowledge of embedded systems and the firmware interfaces associated with custom electronicsExperience designing hardware for manufacturability and testPractical experience selecting components and working through sourcing, availability, and supply-chain constraintsUnderstanding of signal integrity, EMI/EMC, grounding, shielding, and electrical reliabilityAbility to use Python or similar scripting tools for hardware testing, automation, and data analysisStrong technical judgment and the ability to independently own electrical decisions through integration and flightBachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical disciplineAbility to work on-site in Hawthorne, CaliforniaPreferred ExperienceElectrical or avionics development for aerospace, missiles, UAS, robotics, autonomous systems, or other complex hardwareExperience designing electronics for high-vibration, high-shock, thermal, or otherwise harsh operating environmentsExposure to flight hardware qualification and environmental testingExperience supporting high-rate hardware production or significant product cost-reduction effortsExperience developing compact electronics under strict mass, volume, power, and cost constraintsExperience working directly with PCB manufacturers, electronics assemblers, and hardware suppliersPrevious experience in a small engineering team where individual engineers owned major portions of a vehicle or productWhy Join UsJoin at the seed stage with meaningful influence over the electrical architecture and future productTake founding-level ownership of the avionics stack rather than owning a narrow subsystemWork on hardware that has already progressed into real-world customer demonstrationsMove quickly from design decisions to physical hardware, testing, and flightHelp build systems designed for scalable manufacturing rather than low-volume prototype productionMeaningful early-stage equityPerformance-based bonuses for exceptional contributionsMedical, dental, and vision coverageCompany-provided meals during working days and launch activitiesPaid time off and company holidaysCompensation Details: $130,000 - $180,000