Avionics Engineer II

Who We Are: 

Eras of humanity can often be defined by a dominant 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 at Inversion, you will play a critical role in the design, functionality, and performance of our next-generation reentry vehicles. This is a unique opportunity to work on the early stages of vehicle design, including defining vehicle architecture and creatively solving new design challenges. You will be a key member of the Accurate Landing Team, reporting directly to the Director of Engineering, Accurate Landing. In this role, you will: 

• Design electronic systems capable of enabling the safe recovery of the Arc vehicle anywhere on Earth. 

• Develop analog, power, and mixed-signal circuit designs, harnessing, and rugged electronic hardware assemblies. 

• Test high-performance accurate landing and recovery systems through aerial drop test campaigns. 

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

Required Qualifications: 

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

• Typically 2+ years of applicable experience in electrical system design, integration, and testing. 

• Strong practical electrical engineering skills including hands-on prototyping, soldering, board assembly, and harnessing. 

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

• Understanding of sensor and actuator technologies including IMUs, GPS, brushless DC motors, rotary/linear encoders, resolvers. 

• Experience using programming languages like Python, C/C++, MATLAB, etc. for system development and testing. 

• Experience using common laboratory equipment such as oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, electronic loads, and data acquisition systems for the development and debugging of hardware and software systems. 

• Demonstrated excellent verbal and written communication skills. 

• Capable of working in a dynamic, fast-paced startup environment. 

• This position is on-site at Inversion HQ in Playa Vista, CA. 

Desired Qualifications: 

• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Robotics, a related field, or equivalent experience. 

• PCBAs design experience using Altium Designer or other ECAD design software. 

• Familiarity with working with LiDAR, Radar, or Computer Vision for navigation applications. 

• Experience using COTS RF hardware for telemetry, tracking, and commanding of an autonomous system. 

• Experience using Linux-based systems for electrical system development. 

• Experience designing safety-critical, fault-tolerant, or failover-capable electronics. 

• 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. 

• Prior experience in design and test of qualified aerospace or space-flight hardware. 

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 $106,000-$150,000.  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.