Sr. Electrical Engineer

AdAstra Talent Advisors; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

401(k)

Health insurance

Dental & Vision

Unlimited PTO

Catered lunches (2x per week)

Job summary

AdAstra Talent Advisors is seeking a Sr. Electrical Engineer for a hands-on hardware role with a climate/space focused startup client. You will design, prototype, and debug flight hardware, running PCB bring-up and manufacturing support while pushing performance from -70°C to +40°C.

You’ll ship practical designs quickly, balancing theory with bench work, hardware debugging, and close collaboration with mechanical and firmware teams to turn concepts into robust, scalable systems.

Qualifications

• Strong fundamentals in embedded circuit and system design.
• Hands-on troubleshooting of boards and assemblies.
• Proficiency with reading schematics and datasheets.
• Experience with PCB layout and Altium.
• Proficiency with lab equipment (oscilloscopes, multimeters, logic analyzers).
• Interest in the underlying physics.
• Enjoy applying increasingly out-of-the-box solutions to reduce part count and complexity.

Responsibilities

• Design, prototype, and test PCBs for critical new flight and ground systems
• Troubleshoot and resolve (only the most pressing) issues on existing hardware
• Conduct comprehensive bench and environmental testing to validate electrical systems under extreme conditions
• Work closely with mechanical engineers to ensure proper integration on a vehicle with about as many structural PCBs as custom 3D parts
• Support flight operations with troubleshooting of deployed hardware via real-time telemetry
• Coordinate PCBA manufacturing for both R&D and production
• Develop firmware for initial bring-up of new boards and custom testing of existing boards

Skills

Embedded design

PCB troubleshooting

Schematic reading

Datasheet literacy

Power management

C/C++ firmware

Extreme-temperature design

Out-of-the-box thinking

Education

Bachelor's or higher in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Altium

Job description

Our client is supercharging weather models with a unique proprietary data source: a global constellation of next-generation smart weather balloons targeting the most critical atmospheric data. They design, manufacture, and operate their own balloons, using the data they collect to generate otherwise unattainable weather intelligence.

Their mission is to eliminate weather uncertainty, and in the process help humanity adapt to climate change, be that predicting hurricanes or speeding the adoption of renewables. They are building a future in which the planet is instrumented by thousands of their microballoons, eliminating gaps in our understanding of the planet and giving people and businesses the information they need to make critical decisions. They have an exceptional founding team that has been named to Forbes 30 under 30 and are backed by several top investors.

About the Role

This team is looking for a Sr. Electrical Engineer to run hardware design, initial bring-up, hardware debug, and manufacturing support of a number of key elements of their flight hardware and ground support systems. They’re seeking someone who can jump between PCB design in the morning, debugging firmware in the afternoon, and searching DigiKey at night; someone who finds satisfaction in making things work in theory, in practice, and at scale, and in running through those stages as quickly as PCBA turnaround times permit.

This role is for someone who would be unfulfilled designing predictable power supplies or standard microcontroller boards. Instead, you’ll be creating systems that can reliably operate from -70°C to +40°C using components that are entirely unrated for such a task, while counting every gram and milliwatt.

Our client isn’t looking for someone who wants to spend weeks designing the theoretically perfect circuit. Rather, they need someone who can quickly ship a design that doesn’t appear to be broken, and who genuinely enjoys spending a day at the bench playing electrical whac-a-mole when something inevitably is. The ideal candidate will understand and contribute to the big picture to ensure effort is directed only where it is most useful, while spending most of the day on the messy details of building the world’s largest balloon constellation.

Responsibilities

• Design, prototype, and test PCBs for critical new flight and ground systems
• Troubleshoot and resolve (only the most pressing) issues on existing hardware
• Conduct comprehensive bench and environmental testing to validate electrical systems under extreme conditions
• Work closely with mechanical engineers to ensure proper integration on a vehicle with about as many structural PCBs as custom 3D parts
• Support flight operations with troubleshooting of deployed hardware via real-time telemetry
• Coordinate PCBA manufacturing for both R&D and production
• Develop firmware for initial bring-up of new boards and custom testing of existing boards

Requirements

• Strong fundamentals in embedded circuit and system design
• Hands-on experience troubleshooting circuit boards and electronic assemblies
• Proficiency with reading schematics and datasheets
• Experience with PCB layout and design tools (they use Altium)
• Comfort with lab equipment including oscilloscopes, multimeters, and logic analyzers
• Interest in the underlying physics
• You're the type of person who enjoys applying increasingly cursed out-of-the-box solutions in order to reduce part count and complexity

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering or related field
• Familiarity with common communication protocols (SPI, I2C, UART)
• Interest in RF system development and antenna design
• Deep knowledge of power management circuit design
• Familiarity with embedded firmware development (C/C++)
• Ability to solder 0402 components by hand without wanting to cry

Compensation and Benefits

• Cash compensation of $120k - 220k
• Meaningful equity in the company
• 401(k)
• Full Health, Dental, and Vision coverage
• Unlimited PTO
• Office food and beverages (minimum 2x catered lunches & dinners a week)

Location

• The position is in-person.

About AdAstra

AdAstra Talent Advisors is a headhunting and talent advising firm focused on the Climate, Space, and Defense sectors of Hard Tech. We specialize in pairing highly technical and executive talent with some of the world’s leading Hard Tech startups.

At AdAstra, we catalyze the innovations that future generations depend on by placing the right people in the right seats. Our dedicated work enables inconceivable technology from Earth, to the stars. And it’s all because of trailblazing talent like you - those driven to do what’s never been done before.

We care about long term relationships with both candidates and companies. Even if the role we initially discuss isn’t a perfect fit, it’s likely we’ll have something relevant to share with you in the future.