Avionics Engineer (Digital Electronics)

Rendezvous Robotics; Golden (CO); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Medical, vision and dental coverage

Disability and life insurance

Paid parental leave

Vacation and holidays

Job summary

Rendezvous Robotics in Golden, CO is hiring a senior electrical/computer engineer to lead digital and mixed-signal board design for spacecraft. You will tackle high-speed interfaces, power-data links, and sensor front ends, collaborating with firmware and software teams to bring systems from concept to flight.

The role requires a degree in EE/CE and 5+ years of relevant experience, with hands-on experience in KiCad or Altium and bench debugging.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of relevant experience in electrical/computer engineering.
• Senior level only, 5+ years of relevant experience.
• Digital board design with MCUs/processor interfaces, memories, and buses (I2C, SPI, UART).
• High-speed design and signal integrity: controlled-impedance routing and proper termination for interfaces like Ethernet, USB, MIPI/CSI, or PCIe.
• Schematic capture and PCB layout in KiCad or Altium, through bring-up.

Responsibilities

• Digital and mixed-signal board design across the spacecraft.
• High-speed interfaces and signal integrity work behind them.
• Power-data links between boards.
• Sensor and actuator front ends: conditioning and level shifting; interfaces between microcontrollers, compute modules, and the physical world.
• Connectors and interconnects between subsystems; silicon and board layout for vehicle links.
• Schematic capture, layout, signal-integrity analysis, bring-up and test with firmware/software teams.

Skills

Senior-level experience

Digital board design

Signal integrity

Schematic capture

PCB layout

Education

Electrical or computer engineering degree

Tools

KiCad

Altium

Job description

Today, everything we send to space is constrained by what fits inside a rocket fairing. That's a fundamental bottleneck to building more capable spacecraft. Rendezvous Robotics is solving this problem with electromagnetic self‑assembling tiles: modular spacecraft components that rendezvous, dock, and latch to assemble bigger and more powerful spacecraft than anything that can be folded to fit into a rocket.

We're a small team based in Golden, Colorado, executing on a clear path from flight demonstration to our first operational systems. Our work spans hardware, software, and systems engineering. We are looking for the best people in the world who want to build the next generation of advanced spacecraft.

Responsibilities & Ownership

• Digital and mixed‑signal board design across the spacecraft
• High‑speed interfaces and the signal‑integrity work behind them
• Combined power‑and‑data links between boards
• Sensor and actuator front ends: conditioning and level shifting, and the interfaces between microcontrollers, compute modules, and the physical world
• Connectors and interconnects between subsystems, including the silicon and board layout for the links between vehicles
• Schematic capture, layout, signal‑integrity analysis, bring‑up, and test, in close partnership with firmware and software

Basic Qualifications

• Degree in electrical or computer engineering, or equivalent hands‑on experience
• Senior level only 5+ years of relevant experience
• Digital board design with microcontrollers and/or application processors, memory, and standard buses (I2C, SPI, UART)
• High‑speed design and signal integrity: controlled‑impedance routing, differential pairs, and proper termination for interfaces like Ethernet, USB, MIPI/CSI, or PCIe
• Schematic capture and PCB layout in KiCad or Altium, through bring‑up
• Bench skills with scopes, logic and protocol analyzers, and patient board debug

Preferred Qualifications

• Ethernet switching and networking hardware: managed switch ICs, PHYs, and Power‑over‑Ethernet.
• Mixed‑signal and sensor interface design (time‑of‑flight, magnetometers, IMUs, cameras)
• Spaceflight or other high‑reliability hardware
• Writing enough firmware to bring up your own boards

Compensation & Benefits

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case‑by‑case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job‑related knowledge and skills, education, and experience. In addition to the base salary, you may also be eligible for long‑term incentives in the form of stock options. You will receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, short‑ and long‑term disability insurance, life insurance, and paid parental leave. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year.

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Rendezvous Robotics is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Rendezvous Robotics is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.