Lead Flight Electronics & Avionics Electrical Engineer

Space Kinetic Corp.; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base salary with equity-based compensation

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage

Highly competitive paid time off and holiday calendar

Unique performance-based bonus structure

Job summary

Space Kinetic Corp. in El Segundo, CA is looking for a Senior Flight Electronics & Avionics Electrical Engineer. This role involves designing, developing, and testing flight-critical electrical systems for launch vehicles and spacecraft. Candidates should have over 8 years of experience in electrical engineering and a Bachelor's degree in the relevant field.

The position offers a competitive salary ranging from $160,000 to $180,000 and comprehensive benefits including medical coverage and a performance-based bonus structure.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional electrical engineering experience.
• Experience designing complex electrical systems for aerospace.
• Ability to read and create electrical drawings and test procedures.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and validate flight electronics and avionics.
• Perform component selection and electrical analyses.
• Develop and execute electrical test plans.

Skills

Electrical engineering

Analog and digital circuit design

PCB design tools

Troubleshooting

Understanding of communication protocols

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related discipline

Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field

Tools

Schematic capture tools

PCB design software

Job description

Space Kinetic is a space technology startup building a new architecture for space operations that brings the advantages of drone technology to missions without relying on consumable fuel.

Position Overview

Senior Flight Electronics & Avionics Electrical Engineer – responsible for the design, development, integration, and testing of flight‑critical electrical systems for launch vehicles and spacecraft. Work closely with mechanical, software, GNC, propulsion, and systems engineering teams.

What You’ll Do

• Design, develop, and validate flight electronics, avionics, power distribution systems, and vehicle electrical architectures.
• Develop schematics, PCB designs, cable harnesses, grounding strategies, and electrical interfaces for launch vehicle subsystems.
• Define electrical requirements and interface specifications for vehicle systems and payload integrations.
• Support architecture development for vehicle power systems, telemetry, command and control, sensors, actuators, and flight computers.
• Perform component selection, electrical analyses, worst‑case analyses, and reliability assessments.
• Support hardware bring‑up, debugging, troubleshooting, and qualification testing.
• Develop and execute electrical test plans for subsystem and integrated vehicle testing.
• Integrate sensors, controllers, and avionics hardware with flight software and GNC teams.
• Support environmental testing including vibration, thermal vacuum, EMI/EMC, and system‑level qualification campaigns.
• Participate in launch campaigns, vehicle integration activities, and anomaly investigations.
• Drive hardware from concept through flight, including rapid design iterations and hands‑on testing.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related discipline.
• 8+ years of professional electrical engineering experience.
• Experience designing complex electrical systems for aerospace, defense, spacecraft, launch vehicles, aircraft, robotics, or other high‑reliability applications.
• Strong understanding of analog and digital circuit design.
• Proficiency with schematic capture and PCB design tools.
• Ability to troubleshoot electrical hardware in laboratory and test environments.
• Ability to read and create electrical drawings, interface control documents, and test procedures.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• Experience with launch vehicles, spacecraft, satellites, missile systems, or aerospace flight hardware.
• Experience with power electronics, battery systems, and power distribution architectures.
• Experience designing avionics and flight electronics.
• Familiarity with communication protocols such as CAN, Ethernet, RS‑422, RS‑485, SPI, I2C, and UART.
• Experience with FPGA‑based systems, embedded processors, or flight computers.
• Knowledge of EMI/EMC design practices and qualification testing.
• Experience with environmental testing including vibration, shock, thermal, and vacuum testing.
• Familiarity with aerospace standards and high‑reliability design methodologies.
• Experience working in fast‑paced development environments where hardware is rapidly designed, tested, and iterated.
• U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residency (green card) or eligibility for required authorizations under U.S. Government export regulations.
• Ability to maintain or obtain a Government Security Clearance.

What You’ll Bring

• Strong technical judgment and engineering fundamentals.
• Hands‑on approach to problem solving.
• Capacity to work across multiple disciplines and drive issues to closure.
• Comfort operating in an environment with ambitious schedules and challenging technical goals.
• Desire to see hardware through the full lifecycle – from concept and design to launch and flight operations.

Location

The position will be on site at our headquarters in El Segundo, CA.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary with equity‑based compensation.
• Highly competitive paid time off and holiday calendar.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Unique performance‑based bonus structure.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Space Kinetic provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Compensation

Pay range: $160,000 – $180,000 USD.