Principal Electrical Engineer

Cantos Ventures; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 175,000 - 265,000; Full time

Job summary

Heaviside Industries in Los Angeles, CA seeks an experienced electrical engineer to own the electrical architecture of flight vehicles, focusing on power distribution, sensing, and RF payload integration. You will design high-density PCBAs, lead battery power systems under tight constraints, and deliver production-ready documentation while mentoring the EE team.

Candidates should have 10+ years in defense or aerospace flight hardware, deep EMI/EMC knowledge, and experience with Altium,

Qualifications

• 10+ years of electrical engineering experience on defense or aerospace flight hardware, with boards you designed reaching flight or production.
• End-to-end ownership of complex PCBAs: architecture, schematic, layout direction, bring-up, and qualification.
• Expert proficiency in Altium Designer or equivalent EDA tools.
• Deep experience in at least two of: power electronics, mixed-signal design, high-speed digital design, or motor drive electronics for actuation.
• Working knowledge of EMI/EMC design practice and MIL-STD-461 qualification.
• Strong lab skills: instrumentation, debug methodology, and disciplined failure analysis on flight hardware.
• [BONUS] Experience with munition or missile electronics, including safe-arm, fuzing-adjacent, or telemetry systems.
• [BONUS] Experience integrating RF front ends or SDR-based payloads with vehicle electronics.
• U.S. Person as defined by ITAR (22 CFR §120.62)

Responsibilities

• Own the electrical architecture of flight vehicles: power distribution, mission compute, sensing, actuation, and RF payload integration.
• Design complex, high-density PCBAs — mixed-signal, power electronics, and high-speed digital — from schematic capture through layout oversight, bring-up, and MIL-qualification.
• Lead power system design for battery-powered munitions: conversion, distribution, protection, and energy budgeting under severe size, weight, and launch-shock constraints.
• Design vehicle harnessing and interconnect for gunfire/launch shock, vibration, and thermal extremes per MIL-STD-810.
• Drive EMI/EMC design and qualification to MIL-STD-461, working closely with Heaviside's RF team to keep sensitive GPS-denied navigation receivers quiet.
• Own board bring-up, integration, and root-cause failure analysis through environmental qualification and flight test.
• Release production-ready electrical documentation for in-house manufacturing, and mentor engineers across the EE team.

Skills

Flight hardware EE

PCBAs ownership

Altium Designer

Power electronics

Mixed-signal design

High-speed digital design

Motor drive electronics

EMI/EMC knowledge

Lab instrumentation

Munition electronics

RF payloads

Tools

EDA tools (Altium)

Job description

ABOUT HEAVISIDE INDUSTRIES

Heaviside Industries builds multi-domain autonomous precision munitions for U.S. and allied special operations and conventional forces. While modern warfare has rapidly evolved with the proliferation of unmanned systems, hyper-precise munitions in contested environments are the future of the battlefield. Economical precision strike capabilities are critical to U.S. and allied war efforts, enabling successful defeat of enemy military assets and infrastructure. Heaviside builds precision munitions designed to operate in GPS-denied and spectrum-jammed battlefields—where traditional systems degrade or fail—without inflated prices or sacrifice to performance.

All engineering and manufacturing is conducted in-house in Heaviside's Los Angeles, CA headquarters and Oslo, Norway office.

Heaviside is backed by Felicis, Hedosophia, Interlagos, Friends & Family Capital, Menlo Ventures, Flume Ventures, Cantos, and others.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Own the electrical architecture of Heaviside's flight vehicles: power distribution, mission compute, sensing, actuation, and RF payload integration in a tactical munition form factor.
• Design complex, high-density PCBAs — mixed-signal, power electronics, and high-speed digital — from schematic capture through layout oversight, bring-up, and MIL-qualification.
• Lead power system design for battery-powered munitions: conversion, distribution, protection, and energy budgeting under severe size, weight, and launch-shock constraints.
• Design vehicle harnessing and interconnect for gunfire/launch shock, vibration, and thermal extremes per MIL-STD-810.
• Drive EMI/EMC design and qualification to MIL-STD-461, working closely with Heaviside's RF team to keep sensitive GPS-denied navigation receivers quiet.
• Own board bring-up, integration, and root-cause failure analysis through environmental qualification and flight test.
• Release production-ready electrical documentation for in-house manufacturing, and mentor engineers across the EE team.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• 10+ years of electrical engineering experience on defense or aerospace flight hardware, with boards you designed reaching flight or production.
• Demonstrated end-to-end ownership of complex PCBAs: architecture, schematic, layout direction, bring-up, and qualification.
• Expert proficiency in Altium Designer or equivalent EDA tools.
• Deep experience in at least two of: power electronics, mixed-signal design, high-speed digital design, or motor drive electronics for actuation.
• Working knowledge of EMI/EMC design practice and MIL-STD-461 qualification.
• Strong lab skills: instrumentation, debug methodology, and disciplined failure analysis on flight hardware.
• [BONUS] Experience with munition or missile electronics, including safe-arm, fuzing-adjacent, or telemetry systems.
• [BONUS] Experience integrating RF front ends or SDR-based payloads with vehicle electronics.
• U.S. Person as defined by ITAR (22 CFR §120.62)

Additional Information:

The anticipated annual base salary range for this role is $175,000 – $265,000.

Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Heaviside is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Heaviside is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, physical disability or any other legally protected status.