Senior Electrical Engineer

Firestorm; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Job summary

Firestorm is seeking a Senior Electrical Engineer to develop critical aircraft electrical hardware, including power distribution, conversion, battery charging, and high‑performance processing. You will design PCBs and harnesses, manage system‑level integration, perform worst‑case analyses, and support flight tests in a cross‑disciplinary team.

This hands‑on role demands deep expertise in power electronics, analog/digital circuits, and rigorous debugging across hardware and firmware interfaces,

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, physics, or a related technical field.
• Minimum 5+ years designing and releasing electrical hardware for real-world use.
• U.S. Person status required due to ITAR regulations.
• Strong fundamentals across analog, digital, mixed-signal, power, sensing and communication circuits.
• Proficient with Altium Designer and Cadence Allegro/OrCAD.
• Knowledge of PCB layout tradeoffs, signal integrity, EMI/EMC, and thermal behavior.
• Clear documentation habits and ability to communicate decisions affecting safety and production.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate and resolve systems engineering problems to meet design requirements.
• Full-cycle hardware development from concept to production and testing.
• Design embedded control electronics from concept to production, including PCB design and flight‑test readiness.
• Create multi‑layer PCBs (HDI, flex, rigid‑flex) for constrained applications.
• Generate ECOs, fabrication drawings, BOMs, and release packages.
• Root-cause analysis of PCB design/layout issues and corrective actions.
• Maintain cable harness documentation using Altium Harness Designer.
• Source components and manage vendor relationships to ensure quality and timely delivery.
• Support project timelines and report progress to senior management.
• Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, software, firmware, and test engineers to deliver products.

Skills

Power electronics

Electrical system design

Signal integrity

Embedded hardware

Analog & digital circuits

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, or related technical field

Tools

Altium Designer

Cadence Allegro/OrCAD

Job description

At Firestorm, we’re on a mission to revolutionize how defense solutions are designed and delivered. Our goal is to empower U.S. ally nations to effectively deter aggressors—regardless of their defense budget—through innovative, cost-efficient technologies. We call this vision “democratized deterrence.” As a VC-backed company at the intersection of defense and Silicon Valley, we’re pioneering the development of mission-adaptable aerial vehicles that put power back into the hands of operators. By prioritizing operator effectiveness, we’re pioneering a new era of aerial vehicle design. We aim to upend the traditional defense procurement model by delivering world-class capabilities at a fraction of the usual cost. Join us at Firestorm as we redefine defense procurement, making cutting-edge technology accessible to all at a fraction of the cost.

About the Role

As a Senior Electrical Engineer, you will play a central role in developing critical electrical hardware for our aircraft. The role spans complex technical challenges including power distribution, power conversion, battery charging, high-performance processing, high-speed network communications, and system-level electrical integration.

This is a hands-on engineering role for someone with deep technical expertise in power electronics and electrical system design who is comfortable moving between detailed circuit development, system-level tradeoffs, and difficult hardware debugging.

What You’ll Do

• Evaluate, interpret and resolve systems engineering problems to meet the design requirements
• Full-cycle hardware development: Own the entire flow — concept, modeling, worst case analysis, schematic capture, simulation, prototyping, design reiteration for improving design maturity, testing and validation
• Design embedded control electronics from concept to production, including hardware selection, schematic & PCB design, board bring-up, system-level integration, and flight test
• Design multilayer, HDI, flex, and rigid-flex PCBs for space-, weight-, and thermally constrained applications
• Generate comprehensive engineering documentation, including ECOs, fabrication drawings, BOMs, and release packages
• Conduct root cause analysis of PCB design or layout issues, identify corrective actions, and implement solutions to improve performance, manufacturability, or reliability
• Design and maintain cable harness documentation using Altium Harness Designer
• Interface with vendors to source and select appropriate components for designs, ensuring quality and timely delivery
• Project Management: Support project timelines and ensure that technical milestones are met, reporting on progress to senior management
• Work closely with other electrical, mechanical, software, firmware, and test engineers to deliver fully functional products

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, physics, or a related technical field
• Minimum 5+ years of experience designing and releasing electrical hardware for products that have shipped, flown, operated in the field, or otherwise seen real-world use
• U.S. Person status (Citizen or Permanent Resident) required due to ITAR regulations
• Strong electrical engineering fundamentals across analog, digital, mixed-signal, power, sensing, and communication circuits
• Strong proficiency with industry-standard EDA tools (e.g., Altium Designer, Cadence Allegro/OrCAD)
• Working knowledge of PCB layout tradeoffs, signal integrity, power integrity, grounding, EMI/EMC, thermal behavior, and manufacturability
• Familiarity with signal integrity and transmission line concepts (e.g., phase matching, crosstalk, insertion/return loss, termination, and BGA breakout strategies)
• Strong root-cause analysis skills and the ability to move from ambiguous symptoms to clear technical conclusions and practical corrective actions
• Clear communication and documentation habits, especially when decisions affect safety, reliability, production, or fleet operations

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with avionics, aerospace, drones, robotics, automotive electronics, satellites, or other high-reliability hardware.
• Experience designing for weight, power consumption, thermal limits, vibration, shock, EMI/EMC, environmental exposure, or high-volume manufacturing.
• Familiarity with signal integrity simulation and analysis tools
• Experience with CAN, UART, SPI, I2C, Ethernet, GNSS, radios, motor-control electronics, battery systems, or sensor interfaces.

Compensation

• Equity: Meaningful equity grant in a growth-stage defense technology company