Avionics Hardware Engineer, Senior, Staff

Castelion; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Castelion in Los Angeles is seeking a Senior/Staff Avionics Hardware Engineer to design and own high‑speed digital hardware for mission‑critical avionics systems. You will lead architecture, board bring‑up, validation, and hardware‑software integration across multidisciplinary teams.

The role demands deep EE fundamentals, hands‑on ownership of complex embedded hardware, and the ability to thrive in a fast‑paced defense hardware environment. Onsite, competitive package.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or related field.
• Strong experience with complex digital or mixed-signal hardware design.
• Experience with high-speed digital systems, embedded processors, memory interfaces, and board-level architecture.
• Experience with PCB design tools (Altium preferred).
• Hands-on experience with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and power supplies.
• Strong understanding of core EE principles including digital systems, signal integrity, power distribution, and hardware debugging.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop advanced board-level electrical hardware including schematic capture, PCB layout oversight, component selection, and interface definition.
• Own high-speed digital and embedded flight computer architectures including processors, memory systems, and board‑level integration.
• Perform board bring‑up, validation, debugging, and root‑cause analysis in the lab.
• Test reference boards and early prototypes using standard lab equipment.
• Drive signal integrity, power integrity, and hardware reliability considerations throughout the design lifecycle.
• Work with avionics, embedded software, test, and manufacturing teams to iterate designs quickly.
• Support hardware/software integration and troubleshooting across avionics platforms.
• Document designs, test results, and engineering changes clearly.

Skills

High-speed digital

Embedded processors

PCB design

Oscilloscopes

Digital HW

Board architecture

Flight computer architecture

Education

Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering

Tools

Altium Designer

Logic analyzers

Power supplies

Job description

Why Castelion, Why Now

Castelion is moving incredibly fast to develop and deliver advanced defense systems at a time when execution matters more than ever. We believe focus, ownership, and excellence are decisive advantages - and we're building a world-class team to turn bold ideas into real capability. This is a rare opportunity to join at an early stage, where you'll have significant ownership, collaborate with exceptional teammates, and make a direct, measurable impact on our mission and the future of the company - regardless of your function.

Avionics Hardware Engineer, Senior, Staff

We are hiring experienced Avionics Hardware Engineers to specialize in high-speed digital design, flight computer architecture, and advanced avionics hardware development across our avionics organization. This role is ideal for engineers with deep EE fundamentals and hands‑on ownership experience designing complex embedded hardware for mission‑critical systems. Engineers in this role focus on flight computer architecture, high-speed digital board design, system bring‑up, and hardware validation across real flight hardware. The ideal candidate has experience owning complex board designs from architecture through integration and thrives in fast‑paced hardware development environments.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop advanced board-level electrical hardware including schematic capture, PCB layout oversight, component selection, and interface definition
• Own high-speed digital and embedded flight computer architectures including processors, memory systems, and board‑level integration
• Perform board bring‑up, validation, debugging, and root‑cause analysis in the lab
• Test reference boards and early prototypes using standard lab equipment
• Drive signal integrity, power integrity, and hardware reliability considerations throughout the design lifecycle
• Work with avionics, embedded software, test, and manufacturing teams to iterate designs quickly
• Support hardware/software integration and troubleshooting across avionics platforms
• Document designs, test results, and engineering changes clearly

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or related field
• Strong experience with complex digital or mixed‑signal hardware design
• Experience with high‑speed digital systems, embedded processors, memory interfaces, and board‑level architecture
• Experience with PCB design tools (Altium preferred)
• Hands‑on experience with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and power supplies
• Strong understanding of core EE principles including digital systems, signal integrity, power distribution, and hardware debugging
• Comfortable working in a fast‑paced, highly collaborative environment

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience owning flight computer, avionics, or embedded compute hardware architectures
• Experience taking complex PCBAs from concept through bring‑up, validation, and integration
• Exposure to embedded systems, firmware, or FPGA interaction
• Familiarity with aerospace, automotive, robotics, defense, or other high‑reliability hardware environments
• Familiarity with interfaces such as Ethernet, SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, PCIe, or DDR memory systems
• Basic scripting or programming experience (Python, C/C++)

Castelion offers a generous benefits package. Please refer to the bottom of our Careers page for more details.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Additional Eligibility Requirements

This position may require access to classified information or restricted U.S. Government sites, systems, or information, as determined by the Company and/or applicable U.S. Government requirements. If the position is so designated, your employment in the role may be contingent upon your ability to obtain and maintain the required U.S. Government security clearance or other government authorization, and to satisfy any citizenship or other eligibility requirements imposed by applicable law, regulation, executive order, or government contract requirements. You will be notified if and when such requirements apply.

Affirmative Action/EEO Statement

Castelion is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Castelion is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities throughout the application and hiring process. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete an application, participate in the interview process, or otherwise participate in the hiring process, please contact [e-mail]. Requests for accommodation will be considered on an individual basis and handled in accordance with applicable law.

Castelion is committed to fostering a workplace where employment decisions are based on qualifications, business needs, and the ability to perform the essential functions of the role, with or without reasonable accommodation.

EAR/ITAR Requirements

This position requires access to export-controlled information, and as such, employment (or hiring of a contractor) is contingent upon the candidate’s ability to access all applicable export-controlled information without additional export licensing being required by the Bureau of Industry and Security and/or the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.