Senior Electronics Engineer

HyLight; Paris; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% reimbursement of public transport

Bike provided for commuting

Free lunch

Bi-annual offsite trips with the whole

Excellent work environment: 1

Job summary

HyLight is seeking a Senior Electronics Engineer to design, develop and integrate the embedded electronic systems that bring the HyLighter to life. You will own the hardware lifecycle, from custom PCBs to system integration, ensuring reliability, lightweight design and operation under real-world conditions.

You will collaborate with mechanical and software teams to ensure seamless hardware-software interfacing, prototype and bench-test boards, and manage external PCBA manufacturing with

Qualifications

• Design, route, and test PCBs from schematic to layout.
• Strong knowledge of analog and digital circuit design.
• Hands-on lab testing with oscilloscopes and meters.
• Experience with HF EMI/EMC considerations is a plus.
• Experience in aerospace, drone, or startup environments is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Prototype, solder, and bench-test newly designed electronic boards.
• Draft test procedures to validate hardware behavior under flight conditions.
• Debug hardware issues at system and component levels.
• Manage PCBA manufacturing with external suppliers and ensure quality control.

Skills

PCB Design

Electronics fundamentals

Prototyping

Embedded Protocols (CAN/I2C/SPI/UART)

Innovation mindset

Tools

Altium Designer

KiCad

Job description

Power lines, gas pipelines and railways are still inspected the way they were 50 years ago: by helicopter. Expensive, noisy, and up to a tonne of CO₂ per flight hour.

We built the alternative. The HyLighter is a 12-metre autonomous airship running on hydrogen. It flies for up to 10 hours, almost silently, and spots a 1 mm defect from 25 metres up.

It's not a prototype. HyLighters already fly missions for France’s largest energy and rail operators and have flown over the Palace of Versailles. Backed by Y Combinator, we just raised €13M to go from 4 airships to 15.

Working at HyLight

We design, build and fly every HyLighter ourselves, under one roof on a former airbase. Which means:

• You own it all the way. At a big company, you’d own a small piece of one subsystem. Here, you design it, test it, stand on the airfield when it flies, and see the client act on the data it brings back.
• Weeks, not years. Ideas go from whiteboard to flight test in weeks.
• Responsibility from day one.

We don’t care about titles. We care about what you build.

As an Senior Electronics Engineer, your mission is to design, develop, and integrate the embedded electronic systems that bring the HyLighter to life. You will own the entire hardware lifecycle, from custom PCB design to system integration, ensuring our airships are reliable, lightweight, and capable of operating in complex, real-world conditions.

The Mission:

Under the guidance of our CTO and in collaboration with the engineering teams, your responsibilities will include:

Mission 1: PCB Design & Hardware Development

• Design custom printed circuit boards (PCBs) from schematic capture to layout and routing. The first goal is to reduce the amount of cables and properly manage the power electronics, while redesigning key components such as the flight controller.
• Select appropriate components considering weight, power consumption, availability, and aerospace constraints.
• Design power management systems (DC/DC converters, battery management, hydrogen fuel cell integration) and signal conditioning circuits.
• Optimize designs for EMI/EMC compliance and thermal management.
• Integrate flight controllers, communication links (LTE/5G, Satcom), cameras, and high-precision sensors (LiDAR, optical gas imaging) onto the HyLighter.
• Establish and validate communication interfaces between subsystems (I2C, SPI, UART, CAN bus).
• Work closely with the mechanical team to ensure optimal packaging, wire harnessing, and physical integration of electronics.
• Collaborate with the software team to ensure seamless hardware-software interfacing.

Mission 3: Testing, Validation & Manufacturing

• Prototype, solder, and bench-test newly designed electronic boards.
• Ideate and draft test procedures to validate hardware behavior, power stability, and safety hypotheses under flight conditions.
• Debug complex hardware issues at the system and component level.
• Manage the manufacturing process of custom boards (PCBA) with external suppliers and ensure quality control.

Technical Skills:

• PCB Design: Proven experience in designing, routing, and testing custom PCBs (Altium Designer, KiCad, etc.).
• Electronics Fundamentals: Strong knowledge of analog and digital circuit design, microcontrollers (STM32, etc.), and power electronics.
• Prototyping: Hands-on experience with lab equipment (oscilloscopes, multimeters, logic analyzers) and soldering/reworking SMD components.
• Protocols: Deep understanding of embedded communication buses (CAN, I2C, SPI, UART).
• Innovation Mindset: Experience working with tech teams in a startup, aerospace, drone, or high-innovation environment is a major plus.

Soft Skills:

• Entrepreneurial profile with strong "self-execution" and adaptation capabilities.
• Rigorous, resilient, and proactive in problem-solving.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment where iterations happen quickly.

Nice to have:

• Experience with EMI/EMC testing and aerospace certification standards.
• Basic knowledge of embedded C/C++ to test your own boards.
• Experience with drone hardware (Pixhawk, ArduPilot, PX4).

Languages:

• English (fluent - internal communication and documentation)
• French (professional working proficiency)

What We Offer:

• 100% reimbursement of public transport pass (Navigo) or €800/year for sustainable commuting
• Bike provided for commuting
• Free lunch
• Bi-annual offsite trips with the whole team
• Excellent work environment: international team, team events, beautiful offices on a former airbase

Why You Should Join:

• Founder Mentality: We value extreme ownership and want people who think like founders-fast decision makers, natural problem solvers, and executers.
• Ground Floor Opportunity: You’ll be helping to shape and grow a revolutionary company with the resources to back it.
• Impact & Speed: Work in a fast-paced environment where your contributions will have immediate, tangible effects on the company’s success.