Electrical Engineer - Circuit Design and Power Electronics (Defense Startup)

Ilocatum; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Ilocatum in Los Angeles, CA, is seeking an Electrical Engineer, Circuit Design & Power Electronics for a full-time, 100% on-site role. You will own power electronics and actuator drive electronics for flight hardware, contributing to a fast-paced defense tech startup.

You’ll design power distribution, create schematics and layouts, lead EMI/EMC validation, and collaborate with embedded software and controls to integrate hardware.

Qualifications

• At least 5+ years in circuit design and power electronics.
• Experience with high-reliability hardware environments (aerospace/defense).
• Strong PCB design with system EMC approach.
• Hands-on lab experience debugging hardware.
• Proven track record taking designs from schematic to test.
• Experience in rapid development environments (0-to-1).
• US citizen or Green Card holder; able to work on-site in LA.

Responsibilities

• Design power distribution, conversion systems, and protection circuits.
• Own actuator drive electronics for fin control actuation.
• Create schematics, PCB layouts, and bring-up procedures.
• Lead EMI/EMC design, validation, and mitigation strategies.
• Collaborate with embedded software, systems, controls to integrate hardware.
• Build test infrastructure and validation procedures; handle debugging and testing.
• Define scalable electrical architecture standards for high-rate manufacturing.

Skills

Circuit design

Power electronics

PCB design

EMC/EMI expertise

Lab debugging

Schematic to layout to test

0-to-1 development

BS in Electrical Engineering

US citizen or Green Card

Education

BS in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Altium/KiCad

SPICE

Oscilloscopes

FPGA interfaces

BMS

EMI testing equipment

Job description

Job description:

Electrical Engineer, Circuit Design & Power ElectronicsLos Angeles, CA | Full-Time | 100% On-Site | $150K-$220K base + early-employee equity

Join a fast-moving, venture-backed defense technology startup building high-performance flight hardware. You will own the power and actuator drive electronics that fly on the company’s vehicles. Avionics sits on the critical path for every flight test, so your speed directly sets the pace of the program.

What You’ll Do

• Design power distribution and conversion systems, including battery management, power regulation, and protection circuits
• Own actuator drive electronics for the fin control actuation system: power stage, current sensing, motor commutation, position-interface front end, and motor-bus partitioning
• Create schematics, PCB layouts, and bring-up procedures for mission-critical analog and digital avionics
• Lead EMI/EMC design and validation, including power integrity, grounding, and mitigation strategies
• Partner with embedded software, systems, and controls engineers to integrate and tune hardware on the bench
• Build test infrastructure and validation procedures, and handle debugging, integration, and environmental testing
• Help define scalable electrical architecture standards for high-rate manufacturing

Tech Stack

Altium/KiCad, schematic capture, SPICE, power electronics, BLDC/PMSM motor drives, gate drivers, current sensing, BMS, EMI/EMC testing, oscilloscopes and lab equipment, FPGA interfaces, embedded systems

Work Setup

Fully on-site in Los Angeles, CA. Remote work is not available. Monthly weekend travel for test events and supplier visits.

Qualifications:

Must-Haves

• 5+ years in circuit design and power electronics
• Power systems experience in demanding hardware environments (aerospace, defense, automotive, robotics, or similar)
• Strong PCB design and layout with a system-level EMC approach (grounding, shielding, filtering, signal and power integrity)
• Hands-on lab experience debugging hardware and bringing up boards
• Proven ability to take designs from schematic to layout to integration and test
• Experience in a rapid development, 0-to-1 environment
• Daily use of frontier AI tools (Claude, Cursor, etc.) in your workflow
• BS in Electrical Engineering or related field
• U.S. Citizen or Green Card holder (no visa sponsorship)
• Able to work fully on-site in Los Angeles, plus monthly weekend travel

Nice-to-Haves

• Motor drive design (BLDC/PMSM power stages, gate driver selection, current sensing topologies, EMI mitigation on high-current buses)
• FPGA interface experience
• Qualifying hardware to DO-160 or similar environmental standards
• Background in defense, automotive/racing, robotics, EV, or high-performance mobility

Why is This a Great Opportunity:

• Real impact: Ground floor at a well-funded startup tackling a genuine national security problem
• Visible work: Your hardware flies every couple of weeks
• No waiting: Avionics drives the schedule, so your velocity drives the company
• Ownership: Engineers own design, build, and test end to end with minimal bureaucracy
• Strong comp: Competitive base ($150K-$220K) plus meaningful early-employee equity
• Growth: Team is scaling quickly, with significant hiring planned over the next 6-12 months

Salary Type : Annual Salary

Salary Min : $ 150000

Salary Max : $ 220000

Currency Type : USD