Senior Autonomous Flight Termination System Hardware Engineer

Castelion; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Castelion is seeking a Senior Autonomous Flight Termination System (AFTS) Hardware Engineer to design and deliver high‑reliability flight safety electronics for Castelion's long‑range hypersonic strike vehicles. You will work hands‑on with multidisciplinary teams to design, build, test, and validate pulsed power electronics and firing systems, focusing on ESADs and related architectures.

You will lead the architecture and implementation of safety‑critical hardware, develop robust initiation

Qualifications

• Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 5+ years of experience designing and validating pulsed power, high‑voltage, or firing system electronics for aerospace, defense, or similar high‑reliability applications.
• Strong background in energy storage, high‑speed/high‑current switching, and pulsed power circuit design.
• Experience with ESADs, initiation systems, or similar safety‑critical hardware.
• Proficiency in circuit design, simulation, and analysis tools (SPICE, MATLAB/Simulink).
• Experience with hardware bring‑up, environmental testing, and troubleshooting in lab/flight hardware environments.
• Familiarity with safety, redundancy, and fault‑tolerant design for mission‑critical systems.
• Experience designing for EMI/EMC, thermal performance, extreme environments.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop pulsed power electronics for flight termination and firing systems.
• Lead architecture and implementation of ESADs and related safety‑critical hardware.
• Develop robust initiation and firing circuits with redundancy and fault tolerance.
• Collaborate with avionics, GNC, flight software, and systems engineering teams for integration.
• Perform circuit‑ and system‑level modeling to validate performance under flight conditions.
• Define and execute qualification, environmental, and flight test plans.
• Support hardware bring‑up, integration, and test campaigns including debugging and root-cause analysis.
• Ensure compliance with safety, range, and mission assurance requirements.
• Mentor junior engineers and promote best practices in high‑reliability design.

Skills

Pulsed power design

High-voltage electronics

ESADs safety hardware

Circuit simulation

Lab bring-up

EMI/EMC

Redundancy and fault tolerance

Problem-solving

Education

BS/Master/PhD in Electrical Engineering

Tools

SPICE

MATLAB/Simulink

Job description

Why Castelion, Why Now

Castelion is moving incredibly fast to develop and deliver advanced defense systems at a time when execution matters more than ever. We believe focus, ownership, and excellence are decisive advantages - and we're building a world-class team to turn bold ideas into real capability.

Why Castelion, Why Now

Castelion is moving incredibly fast to develop and deliver advanced defense systems at a time when execution matters more than ever. We believe focus, ownership, and excellence are decisive advantages - and we're building a world-class team to turn bold ideas into real capability.

This is a rare opportunity to join at an early stage, where you'll have significant ownership, collaborate with exceptional teammates, and make a direct, measurable impact on our mission and the future of the company - regardless of your function.

Senior Autonomous Flight Termination System Hardware Engineer

We are seeking a Senior Autonomous Flight Termination System (AFTS) Hardware Engineer to design and deliver high-reliability flight safety electronics for Castelion's long-range hypersonic strike vehicles. This role is critical to ensuring safe, deterministic vehicle termination through robust, fault-tolerant hardware. You will work hands‑on with multidisciplinary engineering teams to design, build, test, and validate pulsed power electronics and firing systems, with a focus on electronic safe and arm devices (ESADs) and related architectures in a fast‑paced, hardware‑driven environment.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop pulsed power electronics for flight termination and firing systems, including high‑voltage energy storage, switching, and delivery circuits
• Lead the architecture and implementation of electronic safe and arm devices (ESADs) and related safety‑critical hardware
• Develop robust initiation and firing circuits, ensuring deterministic performance, redundancy, and fault tolerance
• Work closely with avionics, GNC, flight software, and systems engineering teams to ensure seamless integration of AFTS hardware with vehicle systems
• Perform circuit‑level and system‑level modeling and analysis to validate performance, timing, and reliability under dynamic flight conditions
• Define and execute qualification, environmental, and flight test plans, translating results into system‑level improvements
• Support hardware bring‑up, integration, and test campaigns, including debugging, failure analysis, and root cause investigation
• Ensure compliance with safety, range, and mission assurance requirements for flight termination systems
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to best practices in high‑reliability pulsed power and safety‑critical electronics design
• Partner closely with program leadership to make technical trades aligned with mission success

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Electrical Engineering or related field
• 5+ years of experience designing and validating pulsed power, high‑voltage, or firing system electronics for aerospace, defense, or similar high‑reliability applications
• Strong background in energy storage, high‑speed/high‑current switching, and pulsed power circuit design
• Experience with electronic safe and arm devices (ESADs), initiation systems, or similar safety‑critical hardware
• Proficiency in circuit design, simulation, and analysis tools (e.g., SPICE, MATLAB/Simulink, or equivalent)
• Experience with hardware bring‑up, environmental testing, and troubleshooting in a lab or flight hardware environment
• Familiarity with system safety, redundancy, and fault‑tolerant design principles for mission‑critical systems
• Experience designing for EMI/EMC, thermal performance, and operation in extreme environments
• Strong problem‑solving mindset, thriving in a fast‑paced, hardware‑rich, high flight cadence environment

Castelion offers a generous benefits package. Please refer to the bottom of our Careers page for more details.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Additional Eligibility Requirements

This position may require access to classified information or restricted U.S. Government sites, systems, or information, as determined by the Company and/or applicable U.S. Government requirements. If the position is so designated, your employment in the role may be contingent upon your ability to obtain and maintain the required U.S. Government security clearance or other government authorization, and to satisfy any citizenship or other eligibility requirements imposed by applicable law, regulation, executive order, or government contract requirements. You will be notified if and when such requirements apply.

Affirmative Action/EEO Statement

Castelion is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Castelion is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities throughout the application and hiring process. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete an application, participate in the interview process, or otherwise participate in the hiring process, please contact [e-mail]. Requests for accommodation will be considered on an individual basis and handled in accordance with applicable law.

Castelion is committed to fostering a workplace where employment decisions are based on qualifications, business needs, and the ability to perform the essential functions of the role, with or without reasonable accommodation.

EAR/ITAR Requirements

This position requires access to export‑controlled information, and as such, employment (or hiring of a contractor) is contingent upon the candidate’s ability to access all applicable export‑controlled information without additional export licensing being required by the Bureau of Industry and Security and/or the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.