Senior Avionics Engineer, Lunar
About The Position
Vast is seeking a Senior Avionics Engineer to support its Lunar Program, reporting to the Senior Vice President, Lunar Programs. As the program’s first dedicated avionics engineer, this person will serve as a Responsible Engineer for flight avionics hardware and own its design, development, qualification, and integration from early architecture through flight. The engineer will help establish the Lunar program’s avionics architecture, design standards, and verification practices as the program grows. The role covers avionics for lunar vehicles and systems, including flight computers, power distribution, data handling, communications, sensors, and harnessing. It includes designing flight electronics and coordinating across engineering teams, suppliers, and program leadership, as well as planning and carrying out hardware tests and supporting vehicle integration. The engineer will also help grow the Lunar avionics team and mentor engineers and technicians. This is a full-time, exempt position based at Vast’s Long Beach, California location. Travel to test sites, including Mojave and supplier or outside test facilities, may be required. Evening and/or weekend work may be needed to support critical mission milestones.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
- At least 6 years of experience designing, developing, and testing avionics or electrical hardware for aerospace, defense, or similarly demanding applications.
- Demonstrated ownership of hardware from design through test and integration.
- Willingness to travel to test sites, including Mojave and supplier or outside test facilities, as required.
- Willingness to work evenings and/or weekends to support critical mission milestones.
Nice To Haves
- Experience serving as Responsible Engineer for spaceflight avionics through qualification and flight.
- Experience with embedded systems, flight computers, power electronics, and data bus architectures such as RS-422, CAN, SpaceWire, Ethernet, or MIL-STD-1553.
- Experience designing for radiation environments, including part selection, single-event effects mitigation, and total ionizing dose considerations for beyond-LEO or lunar missions.
- Proficiency with schematic capture and PCB design tools such as Altium, and ability to read and interpret schematics, harness drawings, and interface documentation.
- Experience with environmental and EMI/EMC testing for spaceflight hardware.
- Experience with Python, C/C++, or MATLAB for test automation, firmware support, and data analysis.
- Experience standing up new hardware capability, labs, or teams in a fast-paced, resource-constrained environment.
- Demonstrated experience mentoring or leading engineers and technicians, formally or informally.
- Ability to work in multidisciplinary teams and operate independently with limited direction in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment.
Responsibilities
- Serve as Responsible Engineer for avionics subsystems and components, owning requirements, design, analysis, build, test, and flight readiness.
- Define and develop avionics architecture for lunar vehicles and systems, including flight computers, power distribution, data handling, communications, sensors, and harnessing.
- Design and develop flight electronics, including schematic capture, PCB layout oversight, component selection, and box-level design, accounting for radiation, thermal, and environmental constraints beyond LEO.
- Write and manage avionics requirements and interface control documents, and coordinate with GNC, flight software, propulsion, power, thermal, and structures teams to close interfaces.
- Lead CoDR, PDR, and CDR design reviews and present technical trades, analyses, and risks to program and engineering leadership.
- Plan and execute development, qualification, and acceptance test campaigns for avionics hardware, including functional, EMI/EMC, random vibration, shock, thermal cycling, and TVAC testing.
- Build and maintain avionics test benches, hardware-in-the-loop setups, and ground support equipment for checkout and integration.
- Support vehicle-level avionics integration and troubleshoot hardware, firmware, and interface issues through integrated testing.
- Partner with suppliers on procurement, design reviews, and acceptance of avionics components and assemblies.
- Drive reliability, parts selection, derating, and failure analysis practices, and own corrective actions on non-conformances.
- Help scope and grow the Lunar avionics team, mentoring engineers and technicians as new hires join.
Benefits
- Company equity for full-time employees.
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents.
- Paid time off, including vacation for exempt and non-exempt staff; unused vacation may be cashed out annually.
- Paid parental leave.
- Short- and long-term disability insurance.
- Life insurance.
- Access to a 401(k) retirement plan.
- ClassPass credits.
- Personalized mental healthcare through Spring Health.
- Other discounts and perks.
- Free snacks, drip coffee, cold drinks, and dinner meals; subsidized lunch.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
