Avionics Engineer III

Turning Space into a Transportation Layer for Earth

Who We Are:  

Eras of humanity can often be defined by a dominate transportation mode - horse-drawn chariots, ocean-going boats, or aircraft. These were spurred by a small group of people rigorously focused on building technology to achieve faster access to more of the world.  We seek to usher in a new era of humanity defined by universal access to the whole globe free of borders and the presence of a routine way from space to Earth. To do this, we are building highly maneuverable re-entry vehicles that can loiter in orbit before precision landing back on Earth.  

What You’ll Do:  

As  an Avionics Engineer III, you will be personally responsible for the architecture and implementation of the core Avionics elements for Inversion’s next-generation vehicles. Aspects of this work will include system design, interface definition, component selection, high-reliability strategy, circuit implementation, and testing/verification of the flight computer and other digital computing systems. You will be a key member of the Avionics team, reporting directly to the Director of Engineering, Avionics.  

Our engineers are responsible for the complete lifecycle of the hardware they create, including development, testing, and support.  

• Testing, qualification, and integration of spacecraft hardware for our upcoming spacecraft, Arc.  

• Create and lead clean sheet design and analyses of flight hardware from component design through integration and testing.  

• Develop, lead, and own digital, analog, and mixed-signal circuit avionic designs, and rugged electronic hardware assemblies throughout the product life cycle.  

• Qualify your designs through environmental testing including vibration, shock, thermal, and thermal vacuum testing.  

• Will lead and present on trade studies to shape the architecture and design. 

• Assist in architecting flight software.  

Required Qualifications:  

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.  

• Typically, 6+ years of professional experience in the design, build, and test cycle for satellite and spacecraft flight computer hardware.  

• Execute thorough mixed-signal and digital circuit simulations. 

• Experience designing PCBAs using Altium Designer or other ECAD design software.  

• Experience implementing mixed-signal PCBs with digital communications (UART, I2C, SPI, RS422, RS485, CAN, PCIe, Ethernet, Spacewire, etc.).  

• Experience designing fault-tolerant and failover-capable electronics.  

• Experience designing test systems and developing test plans for multidisciplinary systems.  

• Strong understanding and experience with requirements, systems design, and test methods for space, launch, and/or reentry environments including thermal, vibration, shock, EMI/EMC, and radiation.  

• Experience using common laboratory equipment such as oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, spectrum analyzers, and data acquisition systems.  

• Proven track record of delivering high-visibility designs resulting from rigorous methodology. 

Desired Qualifications:  

• Experience designing high-reliability and/or safety-critical systems i.e. for spacecraft or automotive applications.  

• Experience designing radiation-hardened or rad-tolerant systems.  

• Experience implementing advanced microprocessors and support structures, including DRAM, power distribution, NAND flash, and other peripherals.  

• Familiarity with the unique design requirements of long-duration orbital missions.  

• Familiarity with common spacecraft ADCS sensors and propulsion components (star trackers, reaction wheels, thermocouples, resistance temperature detectors (RTDs), pressure transducers, solenoid valves, etc.).  
• Prior experience working in startups and small independent teams.  

Our office headquarters is located in Playa Vista, CA. This position requires in-office presence.

The California annual base salary for this role is currently $121,000-$145,000. 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 and experience, certifications, abilities of the candidate and internal equity.