Principal Electrical Engineer I - RPU Unit Lead Verified today

The Role

CesiumAstro is seeking a Principal Electrical Engineer to lead the design, development, integration, test, and flight qualification of advanced spaceborne payloads. As Unit Lead (Responsible Engineer) for the Reconfigurable Processing Unit (RPU) product line, you will own both technical definition and execution of new RPU products.

CesiumAstro RPUs are complex, VPX-based electronics boxes containing software-defined radios, single-board computers, power supply modules, and RF front ends, driven by CesiumAstro modems and software.

Your Responsibilities

• Serve as RPU Unit Lead and primary technical point of contact throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Lead end-to-end engineering for the box: architecture, design, prototyping, integration, test, environmental qualification, and flight readiness.
• Coordinate and direct RF, digital, power, mechanical, thermal, software, and systems engineers to ensure timely technical execution.
• Hold schedule accountability for box development.
• Develop and review payload control schemes, internal data interfaces, command and telemetry architecture, and firmware/software integration.
• Manage flight qualification activities including environmental test planning (thermal vacuum, vibration, shock, EMC), margin assessment, and acceptance testing.
• Own the transition to volume production, including manufacturability, testability, and customer documentation.
• Generate and maintain box-level documentation: requirements, ICDs, block diagrams, test plans, verification matrices, risk registers, and design reviews.
• Interface with spacecraft systems engineering, mission assurance, manufacturing, vendors, and test facilities.
• Drive root cause analysis, anomaly resolution, and technical risk mitigation throughout development and test campaigns.
• Communicate status, technical trades, risks, and design decisions to internal leadership and external customers.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 9 or more years of engineering experience in electronics hardware development.
• Hands-on experience with software-defined radios.
• Leadership experience including mentoring or leading multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Strong knowledge of systems engineering practices, requirements flowdown, verification/validation, and configuration management.
• Excellent communication skills with ability to present complex technical information to diverse audiences.

Preferred Experience

• Demonstrated understanding of payload control systems, digital interfaces, command and data handling, and embedded hardware/software interactions.
• Proven experience executing or overseeing flight qualification and environmental test campaigns (TVAC, vib/shock, EMC, radiation considerations).
• Experience managing hardware/software product development projects.
• Experience with radiation-tolerant design.
• Experience with high-rate manufacturing, rapid development cycles, and/or NewSpace ecosystems.
• Prior role as Responsible Engineer, Technical Lead, IPT Lead, or Chief Engineer on flight hardware.
• Background in digital signal processing, beamforming algorithms, or embedded firmware for payload control.
• Experience mentoring less-experienced project engineers and design engineers in associated discipline.

Employment Details

Full-time position. CesiumAstro offers stock options and benefits including health, dental, vision, HSA, FSA, life, disability, and retirement plans.

To conform with U.S. Government Space Technology Export Regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, conditional resident, asylee, refugee, or eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.