Senior Avionics Engineer — End-to-End Spacecraft Hardware

Fortastra; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 195,000 - 225,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited PTO

Comprehensive Healthcare

Equity

401(k)

Social Events

Job summary

Fortastra is seeking a Senior Avionics Engineer to design and deliver spacecraft avionics hardware and embedded systems from concept through flight-ready integration. This hands-on role owns boards end-to-end, from architectural selection to lab bring-up, working with flight software and systems engineers to ensure robust interfaces and health monitoring.

You will architect subsystems, design PCBs, select components, and bring up hardware in the lab, with strong emphasis on CAN/SPI/I2C/UART,

Qualifications

• B.S./M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a closely related discipline.
• 5+ years of experience as a design engineer owning electrical/avionics hardware through its full lifecycle.
• Strong EE design experience, including schematic capture and PCB design/review for complex digital and mixed-signal boards.
• Hands-on experience bringing up boards: flashing firmware, exercising interfaces, and debugging hardware at the bench.
• Proficiency with embedded systems and common serial buses (CAN, SPI, I2C, UART), and familiarity with data acquisition or telemetry systems.
• Experience with C/C++ and Python in Linux-based environments for hardware bring-up, test automation, or tooling.
• Familiarity with FPGA-based designs is a plus (RTL design, integration, or constraints).
• Experience in mission-critical domains (spacecraft, launch vehicles, automotive EVs, robotics, defense).
• Comfort working across disciplines with software, mechanical, and systems engineers.

Responsibilities

• Own the full lifecycle of avionics hardware: concept, architecture, schematic capture, PCB layout review, bring-up, integration, and support to flight.
• Design flight computers and support boards, including processor, memory, power management, sensor/actuator interfaces, and communications interfaces.
• Select and integrate electrical components (MCUs/SoCs, FPGAs, memories, sensors, transceivers, power devices) for reliable operation.
• Define and implement board-level interfaces and data buses (CAN, SPI, I2C, UART, Ethernet, SpaceWire).
• Develop and maintain ICDs for avionics connections to GNC, power, propulsion, and payload subsystems.
• Bring up new boards in the lab: write simple test firmware, debug hardware issues, and validate functionality.
• Collaborate with embedded software and flight software engineers to integrate low-level drivers, bootloaders, and health monitoring with the hardware.

Skills

Schematic capture

PCB design

Embedded system design

CAN/SPI/I2C/UART

C/C++

Python (Linux)

FPGA design (RTL) optional

System bring-up

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Education

B.S./M.S. in Electrical Engineering or related

Tools

Oscilloscopes

Logic analyzers

Lab equipment

Job description

Fortastra is seeking a Senior Avionics Engineer to design and deliver spacecraft avionics hardware and embedded systems from concept through flight-ready integration. This hands-on role owns boards end-to-end, from architectural selection to lab bring-up, working with flight software and systems engineers to ensure robust interfaces and health monitoring.

You will architect subsystems, design PCBs, select components, and bring up hardware in the lab, with strong emphasis on CAN/SPI/I2C/UART,