Test Electrical Engineer – Flight Computer Hardware

Apera; California; On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Apera is seeking a Test Electrical Engineer – Flight Computer Hardware to own bring-up, testing, debugging, and validation of the electronics inside a new flight-control computer for a clean-sheet aircraft. This role is hands-on at the bench, with 80–90% of time on hardware bring-up, diagnosing failures, and building automated tests.

You’ll work closely with the design engineer on hardware changes and re-spins, define the electronics architecture, and see the hardware fly.

Qualifications

• 3–8 years of electrical engineering experience developing complex electronic hardware.
• Personally owned the design, bring-up, and debugging of multiple PCBAs.
• Strong digital, mixed-signal, power, and embedded electronics fundamentals.
• Hands-on experience with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, programmable power supplies, electronic loads, and board rework.

Responsibilities

• Own bring-up, testing, debugging, and validation of electronics for flight computer hardware.
• Build automated tests and fixtures to verify hardware.
• Work with the design engineer on hardware changes and re-spins.
• Help define electronics architecture and see hardware fly.

Skills

Electrical engineering

Hardware bring-up

PCBAs debugging

Test automation with Python

Tools

Oscilloscopes

Logic Analyzers

Programmable Power Supplies

Electronic Loads

Board Rework

Job description

Hiring an Test Electrical Engineer – Flight Computer Hardware to own the bring-up, testing, debugging, and validation of the electronics inside a new flight-control computer for a clean-sheet aircraft.

This is not primarily a PCB design role. Roughly 80–90% of the work is hands-on at the bench: bringing up new PCBAs, diagnosing board-level failures, characterizing hardware, building automated tests and fixtures, and working directly with the design engineer on hardware changes and re-spins.

What We’re Looking For

• Approximately 3–8 years of electrical engineering experience developing complex electronic hardware.
• Personally owned the design, bring-up, and debugging of multiple PCBAs.
• Strong digital, mixed-signal, power, and embedded electronics fundamentals.
• Hands-on experience with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, programmable power supplies, electronic loads, and board rework.
• Ability to modify schematics and competently review PCB layouts.
• Experience using Python or similar languages for test automation.
• Strong engineering judgment and the ability to operate with significant autonomy.

This is an opportunity for an electrical engineer who wants unusually high ownership over real aircraft hardware.

You won’t be responsible for one small piece of a mature program. You’ll help define the electronics architecture, build the hardware, break it, debug it, improve it, and ultimately see it fly.