Electrical Engineer - Payload Systems

Xona; Burlingame (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Xona in Burlingame is seeking an Electrical Engineer to design, develop, and integrate electrical systems powering spacecraft. You will collaborate across subsystems, moving from desk design to lab debugging as part of a team building cutting-edge space technology.

Join a highly collaborative role focused on satellite avionics, power systems, and system-level integration, with hands-on work in the lab and in the design office.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Electrical Engineering or a related field.
• 2+ years of experience taking electrical designs from schematic through manufacturing.
• Familiarity with Altium, KiCad, and SPICE.
• Strong fundamentals in electronics, power systems, and signal integrity.
• Hands-on experience with electrical testing and debugging using lab equipment.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills.
• Curiosity, ownership mindset, and desire to grow in the aerospace industry.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop electrical power subsystems including avionics, power distribution, and interconnect systems.
• Perform schematic capture and contribute to PCB layout design.
• Participate in hardware design, schematic, and layout reviews.
• Develop and execute electrical test plans from breadboard prototypes through flight hardware.
• Troubleshoot and debug electrical systems in the lab using standard test equipment (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power meters, etc.).
• Support sourcing and selection of electrical components, ensuring compliance with technical and quality requirements.
• Create and maintain electrical interface control documentation (ICDs) for satellite subsystems.
• Support assembly, integration, and test (AIT) activities, including system-level testing and validation.

Skills

Electronics fundamentals

Power systems

Signal integrity

Lab testing

Collaboration

Ownership mindset

Education

B.S. in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Altium

KiCad

SPICE

Job description

Xona is the navigational intelligence company bringing real-time, centimeter-level certainty to any device, anywhere on Earth.

With Pulsar – the world’s most advanced PNT satellite infrastructure in Low Earth Orbit – Xona will offer a future-proof, backwards-compatible global positioning system optimized for absolute precision, superior power, and robust protection.

We are seeking an Electrical Engineer to join Xona’s satellite development team. In this role, you will design, develop, and integrate the electrical systems that power and control our spacecraft. You’ll work closely with engineers across multiple subsystems to ensure seamless integration from early design through test and flight.

This is a highly collaborative, hands‑on role with meaningful exposure to satellite avionics, power systems, and system-level integration. You’ll spend time both designing at your desk and debugging hardware in the lab as part of a team building cutting‑edge space technology.

What You’ll Do

• Design and develop electrical power subsystems including avionics, power distribution, and interconnect systems
• Perform schematic capture and contribute to PCB layout design
• Participate in hardware design, schematic, and layout reviews
• Develop and execute electrical test plans from breadboard prototypes through flight hardware
• Troubleshoot and debug electrical systems in the lab using standard test equipment (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power meters, etc.)
• Support sourcing and selection of electrical components, ensuring compliance with technical and quality requirements
• Create and maintain electrical interface control documentation (ICDs) for satellite subsystems
• Support assembly, integration, and test (AIT) activities, including system-level testing and validation

Required Qualifications

• B.S. in Electrical Engineering or a related field
• 2+ years of experience taking electrical designs from schematic through manufacturing
• Familiarity with electrical design and simulation tools such as Altium, KiCad, and SPICE
• Solid fundamentals in electronics, power systems, and signal integrity
• Hands‑on experience with electrical testing and debugging using lab equipment
• Strong collaboration and communication skills
• Curiosity, ownership mindset, and desire to grow in the aerospace industry

Desired Qualifications

• Exposure to satellite systems, avionics, or electrical power systems (EPS)
• Experience with embedded systems and common peripheral interfaces (I2C, SPI, CAN, Ethernet, etc.)
• Familiarity with aerospace or high‑reliability hardware development processes
• Experience supporting hardware integration and test in lab or cleanroom environments

Legal and Security Requirements

For U.S. Roles: To comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States (i.e. Green Card holder), or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).

For U.K. Roles: To comply with U.K. regulations, this role requires Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks, and successful candidates must be eligible to obtain UK Security Clearance (SC).

For Canada Roles: Successful candidates must obtain and hold a security clearance at the reliability status level, and pass security assessment for the Canadian Controlled Goods Program (CGP) and ITAR.

We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.