Avionics & Electrical Engineer

Haast Autonomous•Pendleton, OR

About The Position

Haast Autonomous is building an autonomous aircraft network for time-sensitive medical logistics. We’re developing long-range VTOL aircraft, autonomy software, and the operational foundation needed to move critical payloads between hospitals, labs, and healthcare facilities on-demand faster and more reliably. We’re early, small, and moving quickly. Joining now means you’ll have a direct role in shaping the foundation of Haast — our culture, engineering process, testing discipline, partner relationships, and the path from prototype to a real medical logistics network. We’re looking for high-agency people who want ownership, urgency, and system-level impact from day one. The Role Haast is seeking an Electrical Engineer to own the avionics, power-distribution, communications, and electrical integration architecture of our aircraft. You will design reliable electrical systems for high-power electric VTOL aircraft, translate system requirements into schematics and harness documentation, select and validate components, and support aircraft through assembly, ground testing, and flight testing. This role combines electrical design, systems engineering, hands-on integration, and rapid troubleshooting.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, mechatronics, or a related field
Experience designing and integrating electrical or avionics systems
Strong understanding of power electronics, embedded systems, digital communications, and electrical protection
Ability to create and review schematics, wiring diagrams, pinout tables, and engineering drawings
Experience using oscilloscopes, multimeters, logic analyzers, power supplies, electronic loads, and other laboratory equipment
Experience troubleshooting complex electrical systems at the component and system levels
Ability to work directly with hardware and support hands-on aircraft integration
Strong technical documentation and configuration-management habits

Nice To Haves

Experience with electric aircraft, drones, robotics, automotive systems, spacecraft, or other safety-critical hardware
Experience with high-voltage and high-current lithium battery systems
Experience integrating motors, ESCs, battery-management systems, contactors, and power-distribution units
Experience with CAN, DroneCAN, UART, SPI, I²C, Ethernet, RS-232, or RS-485
Experience with PX4, ArduPilot, CubePilot, or similar autopilot ecosystems
Experience designing PCBs in Altium, KiCad, OrCAD, or a similar platform
Familiarity with EMI/EMC testing and aerospace grounding and shielding practices
Familiarity with environmental qualification, electrical derating, FMEA, and fault-tolerant design
Understanding of aviation development standards such as DO-160, DO-254, or SAE aerospace practices
Experience taking an electrical system from prototype through low-rate production

Responsibilities

Design the aircraft’s avionics and electrical power architecture
Develop system block diagrams, schematics, wiring diagrams, connector pinouts, and harness drawings
Size and select wiring, connectors, fuses, contactors, power-distribution components, regulators, and protective devices
Integrate flight controllers, propulsion systems, batteries, sensors, radios, navigation systems, actuators, payload systems, and onboard computers
Design electrical interfaces for high-voltage propulsion and low-voltage avionics systems
Develop grounding, shielding, isolation, and EMI/EMC strategies
Perform voltage-drop, current, thermal, power-budget, and failure-mode analyses
Define electrical requirements, interface-control documents, and acceptance-test procedures
Design or oversee the development of custom PCBs, interface boards, power-distribution boards, and test equipment
Conduct bench testing, hardware-in-the-loop testing, ground testing, and flight-test support
Diagnose electrical, avionics, communications, and power-system failures
Work closely with mechanical, aerospace, controls, software, manufacturing, and flight-test engineers
Review technician-built harnesses and electrical assemblies for compliance with engineering documentation
Manage component obsolescence, lead-time risks, design changes, and configuration control
Build scalable electrical design, verification, and documentation processes