Avionics Engineer - Design, build, and fly the electronics inside a next-generation interceptorEl Segundo, California | On-site
Opportunity SummaryThis hands-on role owns the electronics across the interceptor, from board-level design and power systems to sensor integration, harnessing, and the electrical interface to the launcher. You will design boards, build and debug them yourself, and carry them through qualification and into flight.
You will work directly with the founders and with seeker, GNC, embedded software, propulsion, and mechanical engineers. The hardware you design will fly and intercept targets.
About UsWe are a seed-stage, venture-backed defense technology company building affordable, modular interceptors for air and missile defense, with surface-launched and space-based platforms in development. The team has already demonstrated autonomous intercepts and is moving quickly from prototype hardware into flight testing from our South Bay facility. We are a small group of engineers and operators who design, build, and test in-house, with a clear path toward scaled production for government customers.
Job Duties- Define the avionics architecture across the flight computer, power distribution, and data buses
- Design, simulate, and lay out PCBs for computing, sensing, actuation, and power
- Own schematic capture, layout, component selection, DFM, and board vendor coordination
- Develop power systems including DC-DC conversion, batteries, protection circuitry, and transient management
- Integrate the seeker, IMUs, GNSS receivers, and electromechanical actuators
- Design signal conditioning and low-latency sensor and actuator interfaces for flight software and the autopilot
- Design wiring harnesses and the launcher electrical interface with the mechanical team
- Design electronics to survive high-G launch, vibration, shock, and thermal extremes
- Lead electrical qualification testing including EMI/EMC, vibration, thermal, and high-G
- Partner with embedded engineers on processor selection, drivers, and the hardware-firmware interface
- Bring up and debug hardware using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and DAQ systems
- Support vehicle integration, ground test, and flight test, and write requirements, test plans, and documentation
Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or a related field
- 2+ years designing and fielding electronics hardware, including at least one system taken through test (student rocketry and similar teams count)
- Strong PCB design experience in Altium, KiCad, or similar, including mixed-signal and power electronics
- Strong fundamentals in circuit analysis, signal integrity, noise, grounding, and EMI/EMC
- Experience integrating sensors, actuators, and power systems
- Hands-on soldering, rework, bring-up, and debugging skills
- Comfortable with oscilloscopes, logic and protocol analyzers, and other lab equipment
- U.S. Person status required (ITAR) and ability to obtain a U.S. security clearance
Preferred Experience- Avionics for missiles, rockets, UAVs, or other high-speed flight vehicles
- High-G electronics design and qualification
- Wiring harness design or vehicle and launcher electrical interfaces
- High-speed digital buses or RF systems
- Embedded firmware in C or C++ with an RTOS
- Motor drives or actuator control
- MIL-STD-461, MIL-STD-810, or comparable flight hardware standards
- Prior early-stage startup experience
Why Join Us- Own flight electronics end to end, from schematic to flight
- Hands-on design and lab work every day
- Work directly with the founders and every engineering team
- Rapid iteration with in-house build and test
- Early equity in a seed-stage company with a rapidly growing team
- Mission with direct national security impact
Compensation Details$100,000 - $135,000 + equity
