Electrical Engineer - Embedded Systems

Estes Aerospace; Vienna (VA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Estes Aerospace is seeking a hands-on engineer to turn ideas into hardware, from schematic to flight test. You will own the full stack, including circuit design, PCB layout, harness design, and the firmware that brings it to life.

This role focuses on building real hardware for flight-critical systems and requires a passion for turning concepts into working hardware that powers rockets and related systems.

Qualifications

• Strong fundamentals in analog and digital circuit design.
• Experience with PCB design tools.
• Comfortable writing and debugging embedded firmware.
• Enjoy full hardware development loop.
• Bonus: aerospace hardware or RF systems experience.

Responsibilities

• Design analog and digital circuits for flight-critical embedded systems - power, sensing, actuation, communication
• Lay out PCBs for high-reliability, flight-weight applications where every gram and every trace matters
• Design and build electrical harnesses that survive vibration, temperature swings, and high-g flight
• Write firmware in C/C++ (and whatever else the job demands) for the microcontrollers and FPGAs that run these boards
• Own your hardware from breadboard to flight - debug it, test it, and signoff on it

Skills

Analog circuit design

Digital circuit design

PCB layout

Embedded firmware

Hardware debugging

Tools

EDA tools

Simulation tools

Job description

You are the person who turns ideas into hardware. From the initial schematic to flight test, you own the full stack: circuit design, PCB layout, harness design, and the firmware that brings it all to life. If you love making electronics work and flying rockets, this job is for you.

What You'll Do

• Design analog and digital circuits for flight-critical embedded systems - power, sensing, actuation, communication
• Lay out PCBs for high-reliability, flight-weight applications where every gram and every trace matters
• Design and build electrical harnesses that survive vibration, temperature swings, and high-g flight
• Write firmware in C/C++ (and whatever else the job demands) for the microcontrollers and FPGAs that run these boards
• Own your hardware from breadboard to flight - debugit, testit, and signoff on it

What We're Looking For

• Solid fundamentals in analog and digital circuit design
• Experience with PCB design tools
• Comfortable writing and debugging embedded firmware
• You enjoy the full loop: design, build, break it, fix it, fly it
• Bonus: experience with aerospace hardware, navigation/flight control systems, or RF systems

This is a hands-on role and you'll be building real hardware. If you love the moment when something you designed powers up for the first time, you'll fit right in.

Estes Aerospace is an Equal Opportunity Employer and makes employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable federal, state, or local law.

Offers of employment are contingent upon successful completion of a background check and verification of information provided by the applicant. Background checks are conducted in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws, and criminal history will be considered only to the extent relevant to the position and permitted by law.

This position is subject to ITAR requirements and can only be filled by individuals who are U.S. Persons, as defined by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, 22 C.F.R. § 120.62