Avionics Engineer, Flight Computer

Cowboy Space•Seattle, WA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Cowboy Space Corp. is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our satellites operate in Low Earth Orbit to collect sunlight and enable a new class of capabilities—from powering on-orbit compute, to transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-earth), powering on-orbit compute to delivering secure, high-bandwidth optical data. By rethinking how energy and data are generated and distributed in space, we’re unlocking entirely new ways to operate both in orbit and on Earth. Founded in 2024 by Baiju Bhatt (co-founder of Robinhood), Cowboy Space Corp. is backed by leading investors and built by a team from top aerospace and defense organizations. We’re moving quickly to solve complex technical challenges and build a new category of space infrastructure. The Role We're looking for a Flight Computer Avionics Engineer to own the design, development, integration, and qualification of our spacecraft flight computer. You'll be responsible for delivering reliable, radiation-tolerant avionics hardware that serves as the central computing platform for our spacecraft. This is a hands-on individual contributor role for someone who enjoys taking complex hardware from architecture through production and flight. You'll work closely with software, GNC, power, RF, thermal, and mechanical engineers to develop avionics capable of operating in the harsh environment of space.

Requirements

BS, MS, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related discipline.
5+ years developing complex digital hardware.
Experience designing processor-based embedded systems.
Strong schematic capture and board-level debugging experience.
Experience with DDR memory, Ethernet, SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, PCIe, SpaceWire, or similar interfaces.
Familiarity with FPGA-based systems and embedded processors.
Experience bringing hardware from prototype through production.
Proficiency using tools such as Altium Designer, Cadence Allegro/OrCAD, or equivalent.
Strong lab debugging skills using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power analyzers, and related equipment.

Nice To Haves

Experience designing spacecraft or launch vehicle avionics.
Experience with radiation-tolerant or radiation-hardened electronics.
Familiarity with ECSS, NASA, or MIL hardware design standards.
Experience with fault-tolerant computing architectures.
Knowledge of high-speed digital design, SI/PI analysis, and timing closure.
Experience with environmental qualification including vibration, shock, thermal vacuum, and EMI/EMC testing.
Familiarity with embedded Linux, RTOS, or bare-metal software development.
Experience supporting hardware through launch and flight operations.

Responsibilities

Architect and design spacecraft flight computer hardware from concept through flight qualification.
Own schematic capture, component selection, board bring-up, debugging, and verification.
Design high-reliability digital electronics using modern processors, SoCs, FPGAs, memory, and high-speed interfaces.
Develop fault-tolerant architectures including redundancy, watchdogs, fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR).
Define interfaces between the flight computer and all spacecraft subsystems, including power, propulsion, GNC, payloads, communications, and telemetry.
Lead board-level validation, hardware characterization, environmental testing, and design verification.
Partner closely with embedded software and FPGA engineers to enable hardware/software integration.
Support manufacturing, DFM/DFT reviews, supplier engagement, and production test development.
Drive EMC/EMI compliance, signal integrity, power integrity, and reliability analysis.
Support spacecraft integration, environmental qualification, launch campaigns, and on-orbit anomaly resolution.
Contribute to system architecture and technical decision making across the avionics organization.