Avionics Engineer at Phenix Space

Cox Exponential; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Phenix Space is seeking a hands-on electrical engineer to own avionics hardware from architecture through flight. You will work across hardware, software, robotics, and GNC teams to develop robust space-ready systems for onboard computing, power and sensors.

The role requires leading hardware decisions, performing bring-up, and delivering flight-ready hardware for missions in varied orbits. This is a hands-on position with fast iteration and cross-functional collaboration.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD in electrical/Mechatronics/Aerospace engineering or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years owning electrical or avionics hardware through full lifecycle.
• Experience with schematic capture and PCB design for complex digital, mixed-signal and power boards.
• Hands-on bring-up: firmware flashing and bench debugging with scopes & logic analyzers.

Responsibilities

• Own avionics hardware through full lifecycle: architecture, schematic, layout, bring-up and flight support.
• Translate prototypes into space-ready, robust hardware.
• Make trade-offs on processors, safety microcontrollers, and redundancy considering performance, power, radiation tolerance, cost, schedule.
• Design for LEO/MEO/GEO environments and support actuators and sensors hardware.
• Interface electronics handling power and high-speed data through connectors; manage power architecture for peak loads.
• Leading avionics architecture decisions and interfaces with mechanical, robotics, propulsion and software.

Skills

Schematic capture

PCB design

Firmware bring-up

Embedded C/C++

Python

Bus interfaces

Electronics trade-offs

Radiation-tolerant concepts

Education

B.S., M.S. or PhD in electrical engineering, mechatronics, computer or aerospace engineering, or equivalent experience

Tools

EtherCAT

CAN

SPI

I2C

UART

Job description

About the role

Phenix Space is a venture-backed startup building the upgradeable space layer for Earth’s critical industries. Satellites have been built the same way for more than 60 years. Launch has had its revolution and we can get mass to orbit, but once a satellite is up we are still stuck with it: we cannot refresh constellations, reconstitute lost capability or make any change. Humans, with some help from robotics, have done this on Hubble and the ISS. We see a world where changing what is in orbit is autonomous and available at scale, and we are building the robotic systems and standard interface to make it happen. Phenix Space enables evolution in orbit.

We are hiring a hands-on electrical engineer to own avionics hardware for our systems, from architecture through schematic, layout, bring-up, integration and flight. You will work directly with our electronics, robotics, software and GNC engineers.

What you will own

Hardware development

• Avionics hardware through its full lifecycle: architecture, schematic capture, layout review, bring-up and flight support.
• Taking designs from early prototypes to space-ready hardware that is robust and scales.
• Flight computer architecture: choosing processors, safety microcontrollers and redundancy by weighing performance, power, radiation tolerance, cost and schedule.
• Designing for LEO, MEO and GEO environments.
• Supporting actuator and sensor electronics: motor drives, sensors, cameras and lidar.
• Building safety systems into all our products.
• Interface electronics that carry power and high-speed data through connectors mated and demated on orbit.
• Power architecture for peak loads: protection, filtering, battery and load management.

Integration and embedded systems

• Leading avionics architecture decisions and owning the interfaces with mechanical, robotics, propulsion and software.
• Some embedded firmware for bring-up and test, working with our software engineers who own the larger code base.
• Buses such as EtherCAT, CAN-FD, SPI, I2C and RS-485.
• Board bring-up at the bench, drivers, bootloaders and health monitoring.
• Fast board prototyping to get new projects off the ground.

Testing and space readiness

• In-house environmental testing for fast design iteration.
• Environmental and reliability testing (thermal, vacuum, vibration, radiation) with our test partners, and iterating designs on the results.
• Component selection for space environments, and design for test, reliability and manufacturing.

Suppliers

• Working with vendors and manufacturing partners to source high-reliability electronics, actuators and sensors, and to take designs to flight-ready hardware.

What you bring

• B.S., M.S. or PhD in electrical engineering, mechatronics, computer or aerospace engineering, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years owning electrical or avionics hardware through its full lifecycle, in spacecraft, robotics, automotive, defense or similar.
• Schematic capture and PCB design and review for complex digital, mixed-signal and power boards.
• Hands-on bring-up: flashing firmware and debugging at the bench with scopes and logic analyzers.
• Enough embedded C/C++ to write bring-up and test firmware, plus Python.
• Low-level buses such as EtherCAT, CAN, SPI, I2C and UART.
• Familiarity with actuation: motors, drives and the electronics around them.
• You make and explain hardware trade-offs: performance against power, mass, radiation tolerance, cost and schedule.
• U.S. person status, required for export control (ITAR/EAR).

Nice to have

• Deep embedded experience: real-time firmware, drivers and hardware abstraction layers.
• Flight hardware that launched, satellite bus integration or in-space robotics.
• Radiation-tolerant design: shielding, radiation-hardened processors and parts, and testing for extreme environments.
• Motors in space: thermal and radiation considerations.
• Electronics for AI compute: edge accelerators and their power and thermal demands.
• FPGA or ASIC design.
• Thermal analysis of electronics and boards.
• Mechanical design for space systems.

Why join us

• Revolutionize space infrastructure the way reusable launch revolutionized access to space. We are building the next layer: one that makes today’s space applications orders of magnitude better and brings new ones to orbit.
• Your work will fly to space within your first year at Phenix.
• You will set the avionics architecture we fly for years.
• Join a multidisciplinary team from Dexterity, NASA JPL, SpaceX, Nimble, Boeing, Honeywell Space and Capella Space, among others, that executes with discipline, keeps evolving our capabilities and makes progress toward our vision every day.
• Build a space robotics system that has never flown before.
• Own wide-ranging work across hardware, software and test, with room to grow into a technical leader.
• Move fast on problems in actuation, space-rated computing and autonomy.