Engineering Manager, Avionics

muonspace; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 186,000 - 202,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity compensation

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401k retirement plan

Short & long term disability

Life insurance

Paid vacation

Paid holidays

Unlimited sick time

Paid parental leave

Job summary

Muon Space seeks an Engineering Manager to lead the avionics design team responsible for flight computers, power systems, batteries, ADCS controllers, and related electronics. This role combines hands-on design with leadership to shape architecture, reviews, and qualification strategies across multiple satellite platforms.

You will mentor engineers, own schematics and layouts, and drive standardization and quality while coordinating with software, mechanical, thermal, systems, and production

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience designing complex, high-reliability electronics that operate in harsh environments.
• 2+ years managing or technically leading engineering teams.
• Deep hands-on electrical design experience: architecture, schematic capture, PCB layout, and board bring-up for complex mixed-signal systems.
• Strong grasp of hardware/software integration: microcontrollers and interfaces (UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, Ethernet).

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and grow the avionics design team and plan resourcing as the team scales.
• Own delivery of Muon's core avionics from architecture through design, qualification, and production support.
• Drive the avionics roadmap to improve performance, reliability, cost, and manufacturability across satellites.
• Stay hands-on: contribute to architecture definition, review schematics, and support bring-up and debugging.
• Set and uphold electrical design standards and ECO/DCO discipline.
• Own avionics qualification and test strategies with Hardware Reliability & Test.
• Partner with embedded software, mechanical, thermal, systems, and production teams for integration and manufacturability.
• Invest in developing engineers through coaching and growth planning.

Skills

Leadership

Electrical design

System architecture

Schematic capture

PCB layout

Embedded systems

Hardware/software integration

Communication skills

Education

Electrical/Computer Engineering degree

Tools

UART

SPI

I2C

CAN

Ethernet

Job description

About the rol e

Muon seeks an Engineering Manager to lead the team that designs the core avionics at the heart of every Muon spacecraft - flight computers, power systems and batteries, ADCS controller, and related electronics. Unlike our mission-facing teams, this team is design-focused: architecting, designing, qualifying, and evolving the avionics products that are reused across our satellite platforms and missions.

This is a hands‑on management role for a leader with an extensive electrical design background: you'll manage and grow the team while staying deeply engaged technically - driving architecture, reviewing schematics and layouts, and setting the design quality bar.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and grow the avionics design team along with planning resourcing across concurrent development efforts and hire as the team scales
• Own delivery of Muon's core avionics - flight computers, power systems and batteries, ADCS controllers, and related electronics - from architecture through design, qualification, and production support
• Drive the avionics roadmap: improve performance, reliability, cost, and manufacturability, and maximize standardization and reuse across satellite platforms
• Stay hands‑on: contribute to architecture definition, review schematics and layouts, and support bring‑up and debug alongside the team
• Set and uphold electrical design standards - design reviews, derating and worst‑case analysis, documentation, and ECO/DCO discipline
• Own avionics qualification and test strategies, partnering with Hardware Reliability & Test to ensure consistent qualification across products
• Partner with embedded software, mechanical, thermal, systems, and production teams to ensure successful hardware/software integration and manufacturability
• Invest in developing engineers through coaching, design feedback, and growth planning

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience designing complex, high‑reliability electronics that operate in harsh environments (spacecraft, aviation, automotive, robotics, or similar)
• 2+ years managing or technically leading engineering teams
• Extensive hands‑on electrical design experience: architecture, schematic capture, PCB layout, and board bring‑up for complex mixed‑signal systems
• Deep understanding across avionics domains: embedded processing, power conversion and distribution, battery systems, and control electronics
• Experience taking boards from concept through qualification and production
• Strong grasp of hardware/software integration: microcontrollers and common interfaces (UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, Ethernet)
• Excellent leadership, communication, and presentation skills; ability to move fluidly between team leadership and hands‑on engineering
• B.S. or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field

Nice‑to‑have Skills

• Flight heritage - avionics you designed that has successfully operated in space
• Experience designing radiation‑tolerant electronics using COTS components
• Experience with power electronics for space applications (batteries, switching converters, load switches)
• Experience with FPGAs, SoCs, or embedded Linux platforms
• EMI/EMC design and test experience
• Test automation and data analysis using Python or similar

Salary

The salary range for this role is $186,000 - $202,000 , plus a competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package. Final compensation will be determined based on skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location as assessed during the interview process.

About Muon Space

Founded in 2021, Muon Space is an end‑to‑end Space Systems Provider that designs, builds, and operates LEO satellite constellations delivering mission‑critical data. Our revolutionary, integrated technology stack enables customers to optimize every dimension of their missions for faster time‑to‑orbit and superior constellation remote sensing performance. Our state‑of‑the‑art facility in the heart of Silicon Valley is optimized for manufacturing spacecraft and rapid, flexible payload integration at scale. From climate monitoring to national security, Muon Space is dedicated to delivering Earth Intelligence for a safer and more resilient world.

Taking Care of Our Team

• In addition to salary, full‑time employees receive equity compensation as well as benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401k retirement plan, short & long term disability and life insurance. We also offer three weeks paid vacation for new employees, along with 12 paid holidays, unlimited sick time and paid parental leave.

Our mission embraces the entire planet and we believe our team should too. Muon is dedicated to creating a diverse and dynamic company and workforce. We believe in equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, age, nat