Principal Flight Computer Engineer

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 the Principal Flight Computer Engineer (Avionics) you will be personally responsible for the architecture and implementation of the core compute 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 compute systems. 

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. 
• Assist in architecting flight software. 

Required Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field. 
• 15+ years of professional experience of the design, build, and test cycle for satellite and spacecraft flight computer hardware. 
• 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 implementing advanced microprocessors and support structures, including SDRAM, power distribution, NAND flash, and other peripherals. 
• Experience designing fault-tolerant and failover-capable electronics. 
• 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. 

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

The California annual base salary for this role is currently $190,000-$230,000.  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.