Lunar Avionics Lead Engineer

Vast; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 147,000 - 249,000; Full time

Job summary

Vast is seeking a Senior Avionics Engineer to lead avionics architecture and hardware development for the Lunar Program in Long Beach. You will own flight avionics design, verification, and integration from architecture through flight, partnering with GNC, flight software, power, and thermal teams.

This full-time, exempt role requires a strong background in aerospace avionics, radiation-tolerant design, and hands-on PCB/schematic work, plus mentoring of engineers as the team grows.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• 6+ years of experience designing, developing, and testing avionics or electrical hardware for aerospace, defense, or similarly demanding applications.
• Demonstrated ownership of hardware from design through test and integration.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Responsible Engineer for avionics subsystems and components, owning requirements, design, analysis, build, test, and flight readiness
• Define and develop avionics architecture for lunar vehicles and systems, including flight computers, power distribution, data handling, communications, sensors, and harnessing
• Design and develop flight electronics, including schematic capture, PCB layout oversight, component selection, and box-level design, with attention to radiation, thermal, and environmental constraints beyond LEO
• Write and manage avionics requirements and interface control documents, and work closely with GNC, flight software, propulsion, power, thermal, and structures teams to close interfaces
• Lead design reviews (CoDR, PDR, CDR) and present technical trades, analyses, and risks to program and engineering leadership
• Plan and execute development, qualification, and acceptance test campaigns for avionics hardware, including functional, EMI/EMC, random vibration, shock, thermal cycling, and TVAC testing
• Build and maintain avionics test benches, hardware-in-the-loop setups, and ground support equipment for checkout and integration
• Support integration of avionics into vehicle-level systems, and troubleshoot hardware, firmware, and interface issues through integrated testing
• Partner with suppliers on procurement, design reviews, and acceptance of avionics components and assemblies
• Drive reliability, parts selection, derating, and failure analysis practices, and own corrective actions on non-conformances
• Help scope and grow the Lunar avionics team, mentoring engineers and technicians as new hires join

Skills

Embedded systems

Flight computers

Power electronics

Data bus architectures

Schematic capture

PCB design

Python

C/C++

MATLAB

Mentoring engineers

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field

Tools

Altium

Job description

Vast is seeking a Senior Avionics Engineer to lead avionics architecture and hardware development for the Lunar Program in Long Beach. You will own flight avionics design, verification, and integration from architecture through flight, partnering with GNC, flight software, power, and thermal teams.

This full-time, exempt role requires a strong background in aerospace avionics, radiation-tolerant design, and hands-on PCB/schematic work, plus mentoring of engineers as the team grows.