Lead Flight Electronics & Avionics Electrical Engineer

A New Paradigm For Space Operations.

Who We Are

Drones have fundamentally changed the nature of conflict and maneuver. The next theater to be changed by drone technology is space. Space Kinetic is a space technology startup company building a completely new architecture for space operations – one that brings the advantages of drone technology to space missions without relying on consumable fuel.

This is not a role for someone looking for a traditional 40-hour work week. Space Kinetic is building ambitious, first-of-its-kind technology, and that requires urgency, ownership, and a high level of commitment to changing the foundational assumptions for everything we do in space.

What You'll Do

As a Lead Flight Electronics & Avionics Electrical Engineer, you will lead the design, development, integration, and testing of flight-critical electrical systems for launch vehicles and spacecraft. You will guide the electrical engineering team and collaborate across mechanical, software, GNC, propulsion, and systems engineering to take hardware from concept through flight.

Position Overview:

• Lead electrical engineering design efforts and provide technical guidance to the team.
• Design flight electronics, avionics, power distribution systems, and vehicle electrical architectures.
• Develop schematics, PCBs, cable harnesses, grounding strategies, and electrical interfaces.
• Define electrical requirements and interface specifications for vehicle systems and payloads.
• Perform component selection, electrical analysis, worst-case analysis, and reliability assessments.
• Lead hardware bring-up, debugging, troubleshooting, and qualification testing.
• Develop and execute test plans for subsystem and integrated vehicle testing.
• Support environmental testing, vehicle integration, launch campaigns, and anomaly investigations.

What It Takes:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related discipline.
• 7+ years of professional electrical engineering experience.
• Experience designing complex electrical systems for spacecraft or payloads.
• Strong knowledge of analog and digital circuit design.
• Experience with schematic capture and PCB design tools.
• Experience troubleshooting electrical hardware in laboratory and test environments.
• Ability to create electrical drawings, interface-control documents, and test procedures.
• Ability to guide other engineers while remaining hands-on with detailed design.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field.
• 9+ years of professional electrical engineering experience.
• Experience with launch vehicles, spacecraft, satellites, missile systems, or flight hardware.
• Experience with avionics, power electronics, battery systems, or power distribution.
• Experience with CAN, Ethernet, RS-422, RS-485, SPI, I2C, or UART.
• Experience with FPGA-based systems, embedded processors, or flight computers.
• Knowledge of EMI/EMC practices and environmental qualification testing.

What You’ll Bring

• Strong technical judgment and engineering fundamentals.
• A hands-on approach to problem solving.
• Ability to work across multiple disciplines and drive issues to closure.
• Comfort operating in an environment with ambitious schedules and challenging technical goals.
• A desire to see hardware through the full lifecycle—from concept and design to launch and flight operations.

*Our vision is unique, and so is the team we’re building. If you’re driven to succeed in this role, even if your background doesn’t fully align with every qualification, we want your application.

Where You’ll Be:

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

What We Offer:

• Competitive Base Salary + Equity-Based Compensation
• 401(k) retirement plan with a 3.5% company match
• Highly Competitive PTO
• Paid company holidays + winter break
• Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage
• Unique Performance-Based Bonus Structure

ITAR Requirements:

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Learn more about ITAR here

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.

The annual base salary for this role is below. Pay Grades are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data.

Individual pay will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: interviews and an assessment of several factors that are unique to each candidate, job-related skills, relevant education/experience, certifications, abilities of the candidate and internal equity.

Pay: $160,000.00 - $180,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Relocation assistance

Application Question(s):

• Do you have experience designing complex electrical systems for aerospace, defense, spacecraft, launch vehicles, aircraft, robotics, or other high-reliability applications along with a strong understanding of analog and digital circuit design?
• Do you have experience with schematic capture and PCB design tools along

with experience troubleshooting electrical hardware in laboratory and test environments?

Experience:

• Electrical engineering: 7 years (Required)

Work Location: In person