Senior Avionics Engineer

Approach Venture

Alameda (CA)

On-site

USD 140,000 - 180,000

Full time

6 days ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid time off and sick leave

Equity participation

Professional development support

Structured onboarding and integration

Job summary

Approach Venture in Alameda, CA seeks a Senior Avionics Engineer to own the vehicle's avionics system from architecture to qualification. This hands-on role spans embedded electronics, flight computing, telemetry, power, and instrumentation, with cross-disciplinary collaboration across systems, software, and mechanical teams.

The candidate will design, develop, and qualify hardware for demanding aerospace environments, lead PCB design and board bring-up, and participate in environmental testing

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field required.
Strong embedded software development experience in C/C++, RTOS, or bare-metal firmware.
Experience designing, debugging, and validating custom electronic hardware.

Responsibilities

Own the overall avionics architecture, including flight computers, command and data handling systems, and onboard electronics.
Design, develop, and qualify embedded electronic hardware for demanding aerospace environments.
Develop embedded firmware using C/C++, RTOS, or bare-metal architectures.
Design multilayer PCBs, perform schematic capture, support board bring-up, and validate new hardware.
Lead development of onboard sensor systems, instrumentation, and data acquisition.
Design and integrate telemetry, RF communications, antennas, and flight comms hardware.
Develop vehicle power distribution architecture, battery integration, and power conditioning systems.
Design and support flight safety electronics and qualification activities.
Build and maintain HIL and SIL test environments.
Plan environmental testing including vibration, thermal, and shock tests.
Support vehicle testing and data collection; analyze results and implement improvements.
Create and maintain engineering docs, interface definitions, schematics, and qualification records.
Collaborate with systems, software, guidance, navigation, control, and mechanical teams.

Skills

Embedded software development

C/C++ programming

RTOS/bare-metal firmware

Hardware debugging

PCB design understanding

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field

Master's degree (preferred)

Tools

Altium Designer

KiCad

Job description

Senior Avionics Engineer - Own Flight Electronics for an Advanced Launch System

Alameda, California | On-site

Opportunity Summary

Join a venture-backed aerospace startup developing an advanced launch platform designed to reduce the cost of delivering payloads to orbit. The company is building flight hardware that must perform in one of the most demanding aerospace environments, requiring robust electronics, embedded systems, communications, and power architectures that can withstand extreme operating conditions. As a Senior Avionics Engineer, you will own the vehicle's complete avionics system from initial architecture through design, integration, qualification, and flight. This is a highly hands-on engineering role with responsibility across embedded electronics, flight computing, telemetry, power systems, instrumentation, and system integration. You will work alongside mechanical, systems, software, and flight engineers to design, build, test, and iterate hardware from concept through launch.

About Us

We are an early-stage aerospace company developing advanced launch technologies that expand access to space through innovative engineering and rapid hardware development. Backed by venture funding and led by an experienced technical team, we move quickly, emphasize first-principles engineering, and give engineers broad ownership over the systems they develop. Every team member plays a direct role in shaping both the product and the company.

Job Duties

Own the overall avionics architecture, including flight computers, command and data handling systems, and onboard electronics
Design, develop, and qualify embedded electronic hardware for demanding aerospace environments
Develop embedded firmware using C/C++, RTOS, or bare-metal architectures
Design multilayer printed circuit boards, perform schematic capture, support board bring-up, and validate new hardware
Lead development of onboard sensor systems, instrumentation, signal conditioning, and data acquisition
Design and integrate telemetry, RF communication systems, antennas, and flight communication hardware
Develop vehicle power distribution architecture, battery integration, and power conditioning systems
Design and support flight safety electronics and associated qualification activities
Build and maintain hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and software-in-the-loop (SIL) test environments
Plan and execute environmental testing including vibration, shock, thermal cycling, and high-load qualification testing
Support integrated vehicle testing and field test campaigns through instrumentation, troubleshooting, and data collection
Analyze test results, identify root causes, and implement hardware improvements
Create and maintain engineering documentation, interface definitions, schematics, and qualification records
Partner closely with systems, software, guidance, navigation and control, and mechanical engineering teams throughout development

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or a related technical field
4+ years of professional experience designing avionics, embedded electronics, or other high-reliability hardware systems
Strong embedded software development experience using C/C++, RTOS, or bare-metal firmware
Experience designing, debugging, and validating custom electronic hardware
Experience designing multilayer PCBs using Altium Designer, KiCad, or similar tools
Strong understanding of schematic capture, board bring-up, and hardware debugging
Hands-on laboratory experience using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, multimeters, power supplies, and soldering equipment
Experience taking hardware from concept through integration, testing, and qualification
Ability to work on-site in Alameda, California, with occasional travel to test facilities
U.S. Person status required due to export control regulations

Preferred Experience

RF communications, telemetry systems, antenna integration, and wireless link analysis
Battery systems, power electronics, and power distribution design
Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and software-in-the-loop (SIL) development
Data acquisition systems, instrumentation, and automated test equipment
Experience developing electronics for harsh operating environments involving vibration, shock, thermal extremes, or sustained acceleration
Familiarity with aerospace or defense qualification standards
Experience integrating avionics with flight software or guidance, navigation, and control systems
Python or MATLAB for engineering analysis, test automation, or data reduction
Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related discipline

Why Join Us