Deputy Chief Engineer – Avionics & Electronics Lead

Arcfield; Louisville, Northern (CO, KY); Hybrid; USD 103,000 - 179,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

PTO and holidays

Retirement plan

Learning & Development opportunities

Job summary

Arcfield seeks a Deputy Chief Engineer – Avionics and Electronics Lead to guide Orion Space Solutions products. You will direct architecture, design, test, and verification of spacecraft electronics and mentor engineers in a hands-on, high-stakes environment.

You will chair reviews, coordinate with the Chief Engineer, and shape test plans, V&V strategies, and QA processes for high-reliability space systems.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in electrical or computer engineering with space expertise.
• Experience leading avionics and electronics development teams for high-reliability space programs.
• Familiarity with aerospace requirements management tools and PCB design.

Responsibilities

• Lead avionics architecture and oversee design reviews from concept to verification.
• Mentor staff and drive delivery against cost and schedule targets with technical excellence.
• Develop design documentation for space vehicle architecture and V&V methods.
• Collaborate across OSS leadership to establish QA processes and standards.

Skills

Avionics leadership

System architecture

Technical mentoring

DOORS/Jama experience

PCB design tools KiCad/Altium

RF/communications knowledge

SoC/FPGA knowledge

Education

Electrical or Computer Engineering degree (Bachelors+)

Tools

KiCad/Altium Designer

DOORS/Jama

FPGA design tools

Job description

Responsibilities

Overview:

The Deputy Chief Engineer – Avionics and Electronics Lead serves in a critical role leading development of Orion Space Solutions (OSS) products and programs. This is a builder’s leadership role: you will spend significant time in architecture and avionics design while guiding electronics engineers in the design, test, and verification of complex electronic systems. You will own the technical direction of all spacecraft electronics and be accountable for their design excellence, integration, and verification from requirements through flight.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and oversee development of complex space vehicle avionics architecture encompassing command and data handling (C&DH), payload processing, digital communications, electrical power subsystem (EPS), and radio-frequency (RF) communication circuits.
• Lead and mentor OSS staff while contributing directly, and hands-on, to the avionics designs.
• Hold regular technical interchanges with development staff to drive accountability for delivery against cost and schedule targets with a high level of technical excellence.
• Lead and organize spacecraft avionics and electronics design reviews at the architecture and implementation levels, ensuring designs meet customer requirements. Chair reviews, track and drive review metrics, and embed yourself in the design team. Work in close collaboration with the Chief Engineer and other engineering leaders across OSS.
• Lead, organize, and develop design documentation covering space vehicle architecture, module designs, test plans, and verification and validation (V&V) methods.
• You will contribute to the development of avionics quality-assurance processes at OSS, working with the other engineering authorities: the Senior Director of Engineering, the Technical Director, and the Electrical Engineering Lead.

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher, in electrical or computer engineering field, plus 8-10 years, MS plus 6-8 years, or PhD plus 3-5 years of professional experience in engineering for high-reliability space and aerospace applications.
• Extensive experience designing space and aerospace electronics for high-reliability applications.
• Experience across all phases of development, from requirements definition through sustainment.
• Experience leading avionics and electronics development teams as a technical lead.
• Experience with aerospace requirements management tools (DOORS, Jama, or similar).
• Experience with printed circuit board (PCB) design tools such as KiCad, Altium Designer, or similar.
• Experience developing electronics designs that meet high-reliability flight standards (NASA GEVS, SMC-S-016, MIL-STD-461, MIL-STD-704, DO-254).
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance.

Preferred:

• Experience developing and implementing architectures for a variety of space customers.
• Experience designing complex embedded systems using System-on-Chip (SoC) or FPGA devices.
• Experience with FPGA design and verification using VHDL, Verilog, or SystemVerilog.
• Experience with bare-metal or RTOS firmware development for microcontrollers.

Equal Pay Act

This is the projected compensation range for this position. There are differentiating factors that can impact a final salary/hourly rate, including, but not limited to, Contract Wage Determination, relevant work experience, skills and competencies that align to the specified role, geographic location (For Remote Opportunities), education and certifications as well as Federal Government Contract Labor categories. In addition, Arcfield invests in its employees beyond just compensation. Arcfield ’s benefits offerings include, dependent upon position, Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Paid Time Off, Holiday Pay, Short Term and Long-Term Disability, Retirement and Savings, Learning and Development opportunities, wellness programs as well as other optional benefit elections. Min: $102,815.97 Max: $178,777.02

EEO Statement

We are an equal opportunity employer and federal government contractor. We do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment as protected by law.