Associate Electrical Engineer

Pyka; Alameda (CA); On-site; USD 83,000 - 105,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, vision insurance

FSA with employer matching

401(k)

Paid holidays & PTO

Disability & life insurance

Commuter benefits

Free catered lunches

Job summary

Pyka is seeking an Associate Electrical Engineer to join our growing engineering team. You will help design, develop, and test critical electrical subsystems for our autonomous electric aircraft, under mentorship from senior engineers.

You will gain exposure to power electronics, embedded systems, and flight hardware while contributing to PCB layout, debugging, and documentation. This role offers hands-on growth in a safety‑critical environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or related field.
• 0–2 years of professional experience; internships/co-ops welcome.
• Strong foundation in electronics lab equipment (oscilloscope, power supply, multimeter).
• Hands-on PCB layout and schematic capture experience with popular tools.
• Familiarity with Linux, embedded systems, and C/C++ programming.
• Proactive problem solving and willingness to learn on the job.
• Experience from student design teams (Formula SAE, robotics, drones, etc.).
• Exposure to motor control concepts or power electronics is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to full PCBA design cycle under senior engineers.
• Assemble, bring up, and verify PCBs in the lab.
• Conduct bench testing, collect data, and troubleshoot issues.
• Develop hardware for power systems, avionics, and sensors.
• Create engineering documentation including test procedures.
• Collaborate with Production for prototype-to-customer handoff.
• Work with Mechanical, Software, and Flight Test teams during integration.

Skills

Electrical engineering basics

PCB layout

Schematic capture

Altium

KiCad

Eagle

Linux

C/C++ programming

Power electronics

Education

Bachelors in Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or related field

Tools

Altium

KiCad

Eagle

Job description

About Pyka

Pyka’s goal is to provide society with a new form of safe, clean, and cost-effective transportation enabled by autonomous electric aviation.

To get there, we’re taking a different approach than most. We're applying our technologies to every industry where autonomous electric aircraft can be useful, starting with the highest value and most dangerous jobs. In doing so, we're building game-changing products manufactured at scale, while perfecting the safety, reliability, and capabilities of our autonomy engine and electric propulsion systems.

We design, develop and manufacture an ecosystem of technologies including proprietary flight control software, avionics, high power density motors, motor controllers, batteries, and custom carbon-fiber composite airframes.

Today, we supply autonomous electric aircraft for cargo transport and crop protection to real-world customers across four separate continents and have secured industry-first regulatory approvals from the FAA. Our cargo aircraft enables remote connectivity, enhances express delivery networks, and ensures fast and reliable shipping of critical supplies to areas in need. Our crop protection aircraft offers agricultural services providers and farmers an autonomous tool to make aerial application safer, more precise, and less harmful to surrounding environments. Both vehicles are highly economical to operate, easy to deploy, and significantly reduce CO2 emissions in their respective industries.

What you work on at Pyka makes people’s lives better now and brings the future of electric aviation one step closer each day.

Role Overview

Pyka is looking for an Associate Electrical Engineer to join our growing engineering team. In this role, you will contribute to the design, development, and testing of critical electrical subsystems for our autonomous electric aircraft. You will work under the mentorship of senior engineers, applying your foundational knowledge to real-world challenges while gaining deeper expertise in power electronics, embedded systems, and flight hardware.

• Contribute to the full PCBA design cycle (schematic capture, component selection, PCB layout) under the mentorship of senior engineers.
• Assemble, bring up, and perform functional verification of PCBs in the lab.
• Conduct bench testing, collect and analyze data, and support troubleshooting of electrical and embedded system issues.
• Assist in the development of hardware for power systems, avionics, and sensors.
• Create and maintain engineering documentation, including test procedures, design notes, and board bring-up reports.
• Work closely with the Production team to bring designs from prototype design to our customers.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Mechanical, Software, and Flight Test) during system integration and field testing.

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or a related field.
• 0–2 years of professional experience (relevant internship or co-op experience strongly preferred).
• Strong foundational understanding of electronics lab equipment (oscilloscope, power supply, multimeter).
• Hands-on experience with PCB layout and schematic capture tools (e.g., Altium, KiCad, Eagle).
• Familiarity with Linux, embedded systems and C/C++ programming.
• Strong problem‑solving skills and a proactive, inquisitive attitude.
• Hands‑on experience from student design teams (Formula SAE, robotics, drones, solar car, etc.).
• Familiarity with motor control concepts (FOC, PWM, inverters) or power electronics.
• Exposure to safety‑critical design principles or failure analysis (DFMEA).
• Eagerness to learn and take ownership of small‑to‑medium‑sized design tasks.
• We understand that candidates bring different strengths and experiences, and you don’t need to meet every qualification to be considered. If this role excites you, we’d love to learn more about you. You may be a great fit even if your background doesn’t align perfectly with the list.

• $83,000–$105,000 per year base salary + equity. Compensation will vary depending on location, job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience. Salary ranges are subject to change.
• Employer-sponsored health, dental and vision insurance
• FSA with employer matching
• 401(k)
• Paid holidays, generous PTO, and additional unpaid time off
• Voluntary short‑term disability, long‑term disability, and life insurance
• Pre‑tax commuter benefits
• Free catered lunch and plenty of snacks

Export Control Requirements

This position requires access to technology, software and other information that is subject to governmental access control restrictions, due to export controls. Employment in this position is conditioned on the continued availability of government authorization to authorize release of such items, to the extent required, including without limitation an export license, or other documentation required to establish authorization to receive access to such items.

Company may delay commencement of employment, rescind an offer of employment, terminate employment, and/or may modify job responsibilities, compensation, benefits, and/or access to Company facilities and information systems, as Company deems appropriate, in order to ensure compliance with applicable government access control restrictions.