Senior Avionics Engineer

About Poseidon Aerospace:

Poseidon Aerospace is reimagining how the world moves goods. We build and operate full-size autonomous cargo aircraft - capable of carrying two tons of payload over a thousand nautical miles. From remote communities to contested logistics operations, our platforms unlock a new cost curve for air freight, making it faster, cheaper, and accessible anywhere it's needed. Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area with locations in Washington DC, Oregon, and Maine; we're building something consequential.

About the role

Avionics is the electrical and electronic hardware on our cargo aircraft, its mission systems, and the ground control station that operates it. As a Senior Avionics Engineer you will own that architecture. You will decide how the aircraft is powered, what computers and actuators it flies with, how its systems communicate, and how it behaves when hardware fails. You will carry those decisions through design, build, qualification, and flight test, and set the technical bar for the engineers around you.

Responsibilities

Own the electrical and avionics architecture of the aircraft, mission systems, and ground control station, including redundancy and failure behavior

Define the power system architecture, including generation, storage, distribution, and protection, and own the electrical load analysis

Lead selection and qualification of flight computers, mission computers, actuators, sensors, radios, and datalinks

Define the data bus and network architecture across the aircraft and ground control station

Own interface control documents between avionics, flight software, GNC, propulsion, and airframe

Set standards for schematics, wire harness design, grounding, bonding, and shielding

Plan and lead EMI/EMC and environmental qualification testing

Define the flight test instrumentation architecture with the flight test team

Lead root cause analysis of avionics hardware failures in ground and flight test, including travel to our flight test site

Support system safety assessments and certification evidence for avionics hardware

Manage avionics suppliers and outside test labs

Lead design reviews and mentor other avionics engineers

Required Qualifications

B.S. in electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience

5+ years designing and integrating avionics or electrical systems on aircraft, spacecraft, or comparable vehicles

Owned the electrical or avionics architecture of a vehicle or major subsystem from concept through test

Designed power distribution systems, including circuit protection and load analysis

Took avionics hardware through integration and ground or flight test on a real vehicle

Experience with redundancy design and failure mode analysis for safety-critical hardware

Led design reviews and set technical direction for other engineers

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with uncrewed aircraft, including command and control datalinks and ground control station hardware

Experience integrating mission systems or payloads

Experience with fly-by-wire actuation systems

Experience qualifying hardware to DO-160 or developing hardware under DO-254

Familiarity with ARP4754A and ARP4761 system safety processes

Familiarity with MIL-STD-704, MIL-STD-461, and AS50881

Experience with flight test instrumentation and data acquisition systems

Private pilot certificate or Part 107 certificate

Why this role

Avionics connects every system on the aircraft: power, propulsion, flight controls, mission systems, and the link to the ground. You will make the architecture decisions for all of it, at a stage where those decisions are still yours to make. You will see your design fly on an aircraft that carries two tons.

What you get from us

Competitive salary and meaningful early-stage equity

Relocation support if applicable

Employee Health Benefit Plans

6% Retirement matching

Flexible PTO

Free lunches, snacks, and a stocked fridge at our offices

AI tools and subscriptions