EMC Engineer
Astrolab
Software Engineering
hawthorne, ca, usa
USD 130k-175k / year
Posted on Jul 29, 2025
Venturi Astrolab, Inc. (Astrolab) is pioneering new ways to explore and operate on distant planetary bodies. We are singularly focused on designing, building, and operating a fleet of multi-purpose commercial planetary rovers to extend and enhance humanity’s presence in the solar system. We are seeking motivated, creative, and exceptional people to join our world-class team.
As an EMC/Avionics Engineer, you will be responsible for ensuring Avionics components are designed to endure the harsh electromagnetic environmental effects of interplanetary space. You will play a pivotal role in architecting rover avionics systems, defining electromagnetic environments design criteria, and designing state-of-the-art avionics systems for the lunar surface with a strong focus on electromagnetic compatibility. You will be joining a company at the ground level and have immense influence over the future of lunar exploration.
As an EMC/Avionics Engineer, you will be responsible for ensuring Avionics components are designed to endure the harsh electromagnetic environmental effects of interplanetary space. You will play a pivotal role in architecting rover avionics systems, defining electromagnetic environments design criteria, and designing state-of-the-art avionics systems for the lunar surface with a strong focus on electromagnetic compatibility. You will be joining a company at the ground level and have immense influence over the future of lunar exploration.
- Department
- Avionics
- Employment Type
- Full Time
- Location
- Hawthorne, California
- Workplace type
- Onsite
- Compensation
- $130,000 - $175,000 / year
- Reporting To
- Daniel Fuller
What you'll do:
- Collaborate closely within cross-functional Engineering teams to capture requirements, lead design trades, and integrate the design into the spacecraft systems
- Provide critical contributions to full avionics systems/subsystems and operational requirements at the system and component level, with a specific focus on electromagnetic environments design criteria
- Perform analysis and design relating to effects of circuit and power system grounding architectures, structural electrical bonding, circuit isolation, shielding effectiveness, radiated/conducted emissions and susceptibility, near field/far field electrodynamics, and shielding effectiveness
- Troubleshoot EMI issues from board to system level
- Operate and automate a variety of EMI, RF, and electronics test equipment (spectrum analyzers, network analyzers, signal generation, oscilloscopes)
- Create and update technical documentation, including system diagrams, schematics, interface control documents, procedures, and test/anomaly reports
- Support flight hardware component qualification and spacecraft integration testing, including production issue dispositions, troubleshooting failures, and managing overall spacecraft risk
What you'll bring:
- Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, physics, or other engineering discipline
- 5+ years’ of experience in spacecraft systems design and/or avionics component design (academic and personal projects apply), including 2+ years of EMI/EMC requirements, analysis, design, and testing
- Proficient in the use of lab equipment such as oscilloscopes, multimeters, signal generators, logic analyzers, etc
- Proficient with Analytics/Modeling/Simulation tools such as LTSpice, and experience with electrical circuit analysis using simulation tools such as Spice or equivalent
- Familiarity with SMC-S-016 testing requirements, and testing per SMC-S-016
- Knowledge of electrical safety and EMC commercial compliance standards and/or testing per MIL-STD-46 to radiated susceptibility, radiated emissions, conducted susceptibility, conducted emissions standards
- Experience in high-power avionics system designs for spacecraft, including LDO Regulators, Buck/Boost converters, and various spacecraft grounding schemes for high-voltage systems
- Experience in motor controller system designs for brushless DC motors (BLDC) and permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM) in both low and high voltage systems
- Ability to read, interpret, and follow circuit schematics, PCB layouts, engineering drawings, BOMs, cable harnesses, wiring schematics, interface diagrams, layout drawings, mechanical drawings, and CAD software
- Creative problem solver who can assess risk and make collaborative design and development decisions
- Strong presentation experience in highly technical design forums and reviews (Preliminary Design Reviews, Critical Design Reviews, Flight Readiness Reviews, etc.)
- Experience with NX or similar CAD software, including electrical harness routing
- Experience with vehicle-level testing, including writing test procedures, creating robust and efficient test sequencing, and analytical data review to evaluate hardware health
What We Offer:
- Work with a team of best-in-class engineers building the foundation of planetary surface exploration
- Ownership in the company
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage
- 401(k) with matching
- Flexible time off and parental leave
- On-site snacks, beverages, and 2x weekly lunches
- Flexible work environment
About Astrolab
Having a strong, inclusive, and inspired team is essential to accomplishing our bold mission. Employees are our biggest asset, and we are deeply committed to them and our values. At Astrolab we…
Demonstrate and inspire trust. Interactions are direct, honest, and respectful. We are fair and transparent with what we do and why.
Thrive in balance. Balance gives us perspective and keeps us motivated and inspired. We commit to rewarding work and a fulfilling personal life.
Seek diverse perspectives. We ask questions, engage in productive debate and offer alternatives to ensure our solutions and products are robust and a reflection of our collective best.
Move with purpose. Quality and reliability are accomplished through efficient ideation and iteration. We act with a sense of urgency and deliver what we promise, always with the big picture in mind.
Make an impact. We intentionally move our community and industry into the future through our work, practices, and actions.
Our Hiring Process
Stage 1:
Application Review
Stage 2:
Recruiter Phone Interview
Stage 3:
Video Interviews
Stage 4:
On-site Interview
Astrolab is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, gender, gender identity, parental or pregnancy status, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, or veteran status. If you need assistance and/or reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request to careers@astrolab.space. We strive to remove unconscious and unnecessary barriers to build the best team. While we’ve outlined what an ideal candidate could look like, we know that you may bring something unanticipated and essential to the team. If you’re reading this and can see yourself contributing, please register below.
