Principal Avionics Engineer

Location

Redondo Beach, CA / Denver, CO – 100% onsite Reports To

Head of Engineering

Employment Type

Full-Time

Department

Engineering / Avionics

Travel Required

20% of the time

Security Clearance

Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance

POSITION OVERVIEW

Parallax Space is seeking a Principal Avionics Engineer to architect and own our core avionics offerings for space vehicles. This person will define the avionics product line that Parallax builds once and deploys across spacecraft buses, hosted payloads, and integrated mission systems: command and data handling, flight computing, power distribution and control, spacecraft networking, and payload and vehicle interfaces.

The Principal Avionics Engineer will set the technical baseline for how Parallax avionics are architected, designed, qualified, and produced. They will take avionics from architecture and trade studies through schematic and PCB design, bring-up, integration, environmental qualification, and flight, and will make sure those designs scale into repeatable production.

This is a foundational, high-ownership role for an experienced avionics leader who can be the senior technical authority on avionics, build the team around them, and still get hands-on in the lab when the hardware needs it.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Core Avionics Architecture & Product Line

• Architect Parallax’s core avionics offerings: a modular, reusable avionics product line that can be configured across spacecraft buses, hosted payloads, and mission systems.
• Define the avionics architecture, including flight computers, C&DH, power distribution and control units, spacecraft networking, payload interface electronics, and harnessing.
• Set processor, FPGA/SoC, memory, redundancy, and fault-tolerance strategies matched to mission class, orbit, and radiation environment.
• Define internal and external interface standards (e.G., Ethernet, SpaceWire, CAN, RS-422/485, LVDS, SPI, I²C) so avionics modules work together and plug into customer payloads.
• Lead trade studies that balance performance, size, weight, power, cost, reliability, radiation tolerance, and manufacturability, including make/buy and supplier decisions.
• Own the avionics product roadmap and technology maturation plan, moving new capabilities from prototype to flight heritage.

Avionics Design & Development

• Lead the design of analog, digital, mixed-signal, and power electronics for flight hardware.
• Guide schematic capture, PCB layout, stack-up and material selection, component selection, derating, and worst-case circuit analysis.
• Lead board bring-up, lab debugging, and anomaly investigations at the board and system level.
• Define EE/software interface requirements with flight software and firmware teams, including fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR).
• Lead radiation effects analysis and parts selection strategy (rad-hard, rad-tolerant, and screened COTS).

Integration, Test & Qualification

• Develop avionics requirements, ICDs, verification plans, and test procedures that roll up into the spacecraft technical baseline.
• Architect and build avionics testbeds, flatsats, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and software-in-the-loop (SIL) environments.
• Lead environmental qualification and acceptance testing, including TVAC, vibration, shock, and EMI/EMC.
• Lead avionics readiness for SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, and FRR, and support spacecraft integration, launch, and on-orbit operations.

Technical Leadership & Team Building

• Serve as the senior technical authority for avionics across programs and customer engagements.
• Hire, mentor, and grow avionics, electrical, and test engineers, and set design and review standards for the team.
• Work closely with systems, flight software, GNC, mechanical, thermal, manufacturing, and supply chain teams.
• Represent Parallax avionics with technical credibility to commercial, civil, defense, and national security customers, including in proposals and design reviews.

Producibility & Scale

• Design avionics for manufacturing and test, partnering with manufacturing engineering to reach repeatable rate production.
• Establish avionics design processes, templates, review checklists, and configuration control that scale with the product line.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 12+ years designing and delivering avionics or high-reliability electronics, with significant experience on spacecraft, satellite, or launch vehicle programs.
• Proven record architecting avionics systems, not just individual boards, from requirements through qualification and flight.
• Deep experience with flight computing and C&DH, including processors, FPGAs or SoCs, memory, redundancy, and spacecraft data interfaces.
• Hands-on command of schematic design, PCB development, component selection, derating, board bring-up, and debugging.
• Working knowledge of space environments and their effect on electronics: radiation (TID, SEE), thermal, vacuum, and EMI/EMC.
• Experience with environmental qualification (TVAC, vibration, shock, EMI/EMC) and with leading technical reviews such as PDR, CDR, and TRR.
• Demonstrated technical leadership, including owning a subsystem end to end and mentoring engineers.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including explaining technical trade-offs to leadership and customers.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance;
  must be a U.S. person for ITAR/EAR purposes.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s degree or higher in Electrical or Computer Engineering.
• 15+ years of avionics experience, including building a modular or product-line avionics architecture reused across multiple vehicles.
• Experience with spacecraft power systems: power distribution units, battery and solar array management, switching converters, and fault protection.
• Experience with spacecraft networking and modular standards such as SpaceWire, deterministic Ethernet/TSN, SpaceVPX, or CubeSat/SmallSat form factors.
• Experience with rad-hard and rad-tolerant parts, screened COTS strategies, and NASA, MIL-STD, or IPC workmanship standards.
• Experience building HIL/SIL testbeds and supporting spacecraft integration, launch, and on-orbit operations.
• Background with proliferated LEO, SDA, DoD, IC, NASA, or commercial space programs, including hosted payloads.
• Experience taking avionics into rate production at a startup or high-growth company.
• Proficiency with Altium or similar EDA tools and with circuit simulation and analysis tools.

CORE COMPETENCIES

• Systems Thinking
• Architectural Judgment
• Technical Ownership
• Hands-On Execution
• Mission Focus
• Design Rigor
• Risk Management
• Cross-Functional Leadership
• Team Development
• Communication
• Bias for Action
• Attention to Detail

WHY JOIN PARALLAX SPACE

Avionics is the nervous system of every vehicle we build. In this role you will define the avionics architecture that Parallax products are built on and shape it from the first trade study through flight. You will work on real missions and real hardware with a high-performing team of engineers, operators, and builders, and help build the engineering backbone of a rapidly scaling space company.

COMPLIANCE

Parallax Space is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are based on merit, qualifications, and business needs. This position requires access to export-controlled information under ITAR/EAR regulations and the ability to obtain a U.S. security clearance.

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