Senior Electrical Engineer - Payload Systems Verified today

About Xona

Xona is the navigational intelligence company bringing real-time, centimeter-level certainty to any device, anywhere on Earth. Pulsar is the world's most advanced PNT satellite infrastructure in Low Earth Orbit, offering a future-proof, backwards-compatible global positioning system optimized for absolute precision, superior power, and robust protection.

The Role

You will design, develop, and integrate electrical systems that power and control our payload. You'll work closely with engineers from other subsystems to integrate your designs, combining hands-on lab work with system-level engineering.

What You'll Do

• Own and design electrical subsystems such as power distribution, communication, and FDIR. Capture requirements and manage trade studies.
• Design and develop reliable PCBAs. Source, derate, and test electrical components to ensure they can survive the harshness of space.
• Take designs from initial concept through schematic capture, layout, multi-disciplinary reviews, and comprehensive test plan execution.
• Bring up, troubleshoot and debug electrical systems in a lab environment using test equipment such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and power meters.
• Maintain engineering documentation and develop electrical interface documents for satellite subsystems.
• See design through assembly, integration, and test activities, including system-level testing, validation, and integration onto the satellite.
• Mentor others and elevate team function through implementation of improved design practices and standards.

What You Bring

Education and Knowledge

• B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering or a related field.
• Strong fundamentals in analog and digital circuit design, power systems, signal integrity, layout, and Design for Test and Manufacturing (DFT/DFM).
• Experience with embedded control, architectures featuring FPGAs, MCUs, and communication buses including I2C, SPI, CAN, RS-422, Ethernet.
• Understanding of reliability methods, including Worst-Case Circuit Analysis (WCCA), part derating, and FMEA.

Experience

• 5 or more years of experience taking designs from schematic to layout, manufacturing, test and system integration.
• Proficiency with electrical design and simulation tools such as Altium, OrCAD, or Spice.
• Proven lab experience with hardware bring-up, board-level troubleshooting, and test automation.
• Exposure to satellite systems, bus avionics or payload electronics is valued.
• Working knowledge of space radiation effects and space design practices is valued.
• Experience with EMI/EMC design and mitigation is valued.

Collaboration and Mindset

• Collaborative, team-oriented mindset with ability to communicate effectively.
• Rigorous attention to detail and commitment to continuous process improvement.
• Mentorship mindset with desire to build repeatable engineering practices.

Location and Requirements

This role is based in Burlingame, California. As this is a U.S. role subject to export control regulations (ITAR), applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States (Green Card holder), or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).