Lead Electrical Engineer, RPU Systems

CesiumAstro; Westminster (MD); On-site; USD 150,000 - 182,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Health, dental, vision insurance

HSA

FSA

Retirement plans

Life & disability insurance

Job summary

CesiumAstro is seeking a highly skilled Principal Electrical Engineer to lead the design, development, integration, test, and flight qualification of advanced spaceborne payloads in our RPU product line. The Unit Lead will guide multi-disciplinary teams through architecture, prototyping, verification, and transition to production.

The role emphasizes technical definition, schedule execution, and strong communication with customers and stakeholders in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Electrical Engineering or a related field.
• 9+ years of engineering experience in electronics hardware development.
• Hands-on experience with related technologies such as software-defined radios.
• Leadership experience, including mentoring or leading multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Strong knowledge of systems engineering practices, requirements flowdown, verification/validation, and configuration management.
• Excellent communication skills with ability to present complex technical information to diverse audiences.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the RPU Unit Lead and primary technical point of contact for the box throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Lead the end-to-end engineering effort for the box, including architecture, design, prototyping, integration, test, environmental qualification, and flight readiness.
• Coordinate and direct a team of RF, digital, power, mechanical, thermal, software, and systems engineers to ensure consistent and timely technical execution.
• Hold schedule accountability for the box development.
• Develop and review payload control schemes, internal data interfaces, command & telemetry architecture, and firmware/software integration as needed.
• Manage all flight qualification activities, including environmental test planning (TVAC, vibration, EMC), margin assessment, and final acceptance testing.
• Own the transition to volume production, including manufacturability, testability, and customer-facing documentation.
• Generate and maintain box-level documentation: requirements, ICDs, block diagrams, test plans, verification matrices, risk registers, and design reviews.
• Interface with spacecraft systems engineering, mission assurance, manufacturing, vendors, and test facilities.
• Driver root cause analysis, anomaly resolution, and technical risk mitigation throughout development and test campaigns.
• Communicate status, technical trades, risks, and design decisions to internal leadership and external customers.

Skills

Software-defined radios

RF engineering

Leadership

Systems engineering

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Tools

VPX hardware

Job description

CesiumAstro is seeking a highly skilled Principal Electrical Engineer to lead the design, development, integration, test, and flight qualification of advanced spaceborne payloads in our RPU product line. The Unit Lead will guide multi-disciplinary teams through architecture, prototyping, verification, and transition to production.

The role emphasizes technical definition, schedule execution, and strong communication with customers and stakeholders in a fast-paced environment.