Avionics Engineer II

Turning Space into a Transportation Layer for Earth

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 3+ years of applicable experience in electrical system design, integration, and testing.

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

• 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.

• Hands-on prototyping (soldering, board assembly, harnessing).

• 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.

• 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 $110,000-$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 interna