Lead Space Avionics Hardware Engineer

Varda Space Industries; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 182,000 - 263,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Long-term incentives

On-site in El Segundo

Job summary

Varda Space Industries is seeking a Principal Space Avionics Hardware Engineer in El Segundo, CA to design flight-critical electrical hardware for satellite bus, reentry vehicle, and payloads. You will define requirements, design to them, and ensure hardware meets flight criteria with a focus on reliability and performance.

You will lead cross-functional collaboration with flight software, thermal, GNC, and structures teams, driving system-level integration and test plans, while mentoring junior

Qualifications

• B.S. in Electrical or Computer Engineering or related engineering discipline.
• 8+ years of direct experience designing electronics hardware - schematic capture, PCB layout, board bring-up, and environmental qualification - for aerospace, automotive, or other high-reliability industries.
• 3+ years of experience working directly on hardware for space applications.
• Demonstrated experience owning the architecture and implementation of complex electronics systems from design to production/deployment.
• Advanced PCB design expertise, knowledge of high speed signal integrity, power and grounding, electromagnetic compatibility.
• Experience taking complex PCB designs through fabrication and assembly.
• Expert user of Altium and/or KiCad EDA suites.
• Strong hands-on lab experience with electronic test equipment including oscilloscopes, function generators, benchtop digital multimeters, and power supplies.
• Experience programming in Python, MATLAB, or another scripting/data analysis language.
• Demonstrated experience implementing the hardware layer of numerous on-board and over-harness communication protocols such as SPI, RS422, and 1000BASE-T.
• Experience designing analog/digital filtering and mixed-signal circuits.
• Power electronics design experience including load switches and switch mode DC:DC converters.
• Understanding of aerospace sensor and actuator technologies including: RTDs, pressure transducers, brushless motors, solenoid valves, thermocouples, stepper motors, and rotary/linear Encoders.

Responsibilities

• PCB level electronics design at all lifecycle stages, from schematic capture, to layout, to design validation, fabrication/assembly, and manufacturing test.
• Contribute to avionics architecture and system design for next-generation vehicles and hardware block upgrades to existing vehicles.
• Help define standards, processes and procedures to enable exemplary electrical engineering at Varda.
• Distilling high level company or mission objectives into requirements, designs, and developmental milestones for your subsystems.
• Avionics subject matter expert for satellite, reentry vehicle, and payload hardware. Providing support to those using your products, namely the Varda GNC, pharmaceutical, mission operations, and integration teams.
• Actively collaborate with cross functional teams such as flight software, thermal, GNC, and structures to determine across vehicle system impacts of design decisions.
• Ownership of product acceptance and qualification testing for space environments (Thermal, Vibe, Shock, TVAC, and EMI) with support from the Avionics Test team.
• Provide direction on system-level integration test plans to verify your hardware performs as expected at the vehicle level.
• Perform root cause analysis on test failures and implement holistic mitigation strategies for flight risks.
• Mentor junior engineers on their projects, challenges, and design methodologies setting a high bar for the future leaders of Varda.

Skills

Altium

KiCad

PCB design

Schematic capture

High-speed signals

Testing & validation

Python

Education

B.S. in Electrical or Computer Engineering

Tools

Oscilloscope

Function generators

Benchtop DMM

Power supplies

Environmental testing equipment

Job description

Varda Space Industries is seeking a Principal Space Avionics Hardware Engineer in El Segundo, CA to design flight-critical electrical hardware for satellite bus, reentry vehicle, and payloads. You will define requirements, design to them, and ensure hardware meets flight criteria with a focus on reliability and performance.

You will lead cross-functional collaboration with flight software, thermal, GNC, and structures teams, driving system-level integration and test plans, while mentoring junior