Electrical Engineer

Airhart Aeronautics; California (MO); On-site; USD 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Airhart Aeronautics seeks an Electrical Engineer to build and own avionics hardware from prototype to production. You’ll work in the lab and CAD, debugging signal integrity issues and improving manufacturability on PCBs for flight-critical systems.

The role targets engineers with about 1–3 years of experience or exceptional graduates who have designed and tested real hardware such as PCBs and embedded interfaces (SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, Ethernet).

Qualifications

• Approximately 1–3 years of professional electrical engineering experience developing electronics hardware.
• OR a recent graduate with hands-on hardware experience through internships or major engineering projects.
• You should have experience with several of the following: schematic capture, PCB design, board bring-up, embedded systems.

Responsibilities

• Own one or more avionics PCBAs from prototype through production.
• Bring up new hardware and verify circuit operation.
• Debug electrical issues with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, multimeters, and lab equipment.
• Work with firmware engineers to validate hardware and diagnose system-level issues.
• Update schematics and layouts to improve reliability, manufacturability, cost, and performance.
• Support prototype builds and work with manufacturing to resolve production issues.
• Review test results and determine root causes of hardware failures.
• Design and validate simple test setups for hardware verification.
• As you grow, take ownership of clean-sheet designs for new avionics hardware.

Skills

Schematic capture

PCB design

Board bring-up

Embedded systems

SPI/I2C/UART

Reading datasheets

Lab equipment

Tools

Altium Designer

Oscilloscopes

Logic analyzers

Multimeters

Power supplies

PCB layout

Job description

Airhart

Most airplanes today still use avionics designed around decades-old assumptions. We think that’s one of the biggest reasons general aviation remains difficult to learn and intimidating to use.

We’re building an integrated avionics platform that makes flying dramatically simpler and safer, with the long-term goal of making personal flight accessible to far more people.

Our team includes engineers from companies like SpaceX and pilots who have spent thousands of hours flying existing systems. We’ve experienced firsthand how difficult aircraft are to build and operate, and we’re designing both the product and the company differently from the ground up.

Today we’re shipping our first generation avionics system into experimental aircraft. That means every manufacturing decision you make directly affects something that will eventually fly.

The Role

We're looking for an electrical engineer who enjoys building hardware that actually works—not just designing it.

Our avionics platform consists of flight computers, displays, engine monitoring systems, power electronics, networking hardware, sensor interfaces, and fly-by-wire electronics. As an Electrical Engineer, you'll own one or more of these boards throughout their lifecycle.

You'll spend as much time in the lab as you do in CAD. One day you might be tracking down a difficult signal integrity issue on a prototype. The next you could be updating a design to improve manufacturability, validating a hardware fix, or starting the schematic for an entirely new board.

This is an excellent role for someone with roughly 1–2 years of industry experience—or an exceptional new graduate who has already designed, assembled, and debugged complex PCBs through internships, Formula SAE, CubeSat, rocketry, robotics, or other substantial engineering projects.

What You'll Do

• Own one or more avionics PCBAs from prototype through production.
• Bring up new hardware and verify circuit operation.
• Debug electrical issues using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, multimeters, and other lab equipment.
• Work with firmware engineers to validate new hardware and diagnose system-level issues.
• Update schematics and layouts to improve reliability, manufacturability, cost, and performance.
• Support prototype builds and work directly with manufacturing to resolve production issues.
• Review test results and determine root causes of hardware failures.
• Design and validate simple test setups for hardware verification.
• As you grow, take ownership of clean-sheet designs for new avionics hardware.

What We're Looking For

• Approximately 1–3 years of professional electrical engineering experience developing electronics hardware.

OR

• A recent graduate with exceptional hands-on hardware experience through internships or major engineering projects.

We're looking for people who have built real hardware—not just simulated it.

You should have experience with several of the following:

• Schematic capture and PCB design.
• Board bring-up and hardware debugging.
• Microcontrollers and embedded systems.
• Digital interfaces such as SPI, I²C, UART, CAN, or Ethernet.
• Reading datasheets and selecting components.
• Laboratory equipment including oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, and logic analyzers.

Most importantly, you're excited to learn and become the technical owner of increasingly complex hardware.

Nice to Have

• Altium Designer experience.
• Multi-layer PCB layout.
• Mixed-signal or power electronics.
• EMC or signal integrity exposure.
• Aerospace, robotics, automotive, or embedded systems experience.
• Experience assembling or reworking prototype PCBs.

Your First 90 Days

First 30 days

• Learn our avionics architecture and hardware development process.
• Bring up existing prototype boards and become familiar with our design tools and lab equipment.
• Resolve your first hardware bug alongside senior engineers.

Within 60 days

• Become the primary owner for one avionics PCBA.
• Design and validate your first hardware revision.
• Support manufacturing and test teams in resolving hardware issues.

Within 90 days

• Independently own the electrical design and validation of one or more avionics assemblies.
• Deliver hardware improvements that increase reliability, manufacturability, or performance.
• Begin development of new hardware features or clean-sheet designs under mentorship.

Why This Role Matters

Every feature our pilots use ultimately runs through hardware that someone designed, debugged, and validated.

You’ll be involved in every stage of that process—from the first prototype to production hardware installed in an aircraft. If you enjoy solving difficult hardware problems and want to see your designs fly, you’ll have opportunities here that are hard to find anywhere else.