Electrical Engineer – Hardware Development

About the Company

Our client is a seed-stage startup building a new class of distributed sensing systems enabled by modern RF, communications, and real-time processing infrastructure.

Traditional sensing systems are often expensive, centralized, and increasingly vulnerable in modern operating environments. Our client is taking a different approach, developing systems designed to be more scalable, resilient, and deployable across a wide range of conditions.

Recent advances in satellite and communications infrastructure have created a meaningful shift in the availability of RF signals globally. Our client is leveraging these conditions to enable sensing capabilities that were previously impractical to deploy at scale.

The long-term vision is a low-cost, distributed sensing layer that can be deployed broadly rather than relying on a small number of high-cost systems. This enables more persistent awareness, greater resilience, and new capabilities across defense and commercial applications.

They are currently in a rapid build phase, working toward an early system demonstration with strong interest and backing from government and commercial stakeholders.

This is a unique opportunity to join at the ground floor of a high-caliber founding team composed of former SpaceX and Capella engineers, building a system with real traction.

This is a direct hire, permanent placement position for a client of AdAstra Talent Advisors. This position is based in San Francisco, CA. More company details will be shared during an initial call.

About the Role

Our client is seeking a hands-on Electrical Engineer to support the development of advanced electronic and RF-enabled systems for a novel distributed sensing platform.

This role owns electronics development from schematic design through PCB bring-up, integration, and system-level validation for early prototypes and future product platforms.

This is a highly hands-on role built around building hardware, troubleshooting systems in the lab, and taking designs from initial concepts through validation. You will work closely with RF and mechanical engineers across the full hardware development cycle.

This is the company's first Electrical Engineer hire, and one of the first two hires on its new Hardware Engineering team, reporting directly to the Head of Hardware. The role sits on the antenna/hardware side of engineering, with immediate priority on rapid prototyping toward the company's next field-test milestone.

Responsibilities

• Design and build prototype hardware rapidly, iterating toward near-term field-test milestones ahead of longer-term production design

• Design and develop analog, digital, power, and control electronics for prototype and product hardware, including power-distribution, regulation, monitoring, and protection circuits

• Create schematics and support PCB layout for mixed-signal and control boards

• Develop control and interface electronics for RF components, sensors, converters, switches, and related modules, supporting interfaces such as SPI, I²C, UART, USB, Ethernet, and GPIO

• Perform PCB bring-up, debugging, rework, and functional testing

• Integrate RF, digital, power, mechanical, and computing subsystems

• Develop test fixtures, cables, harnesses, and prototype support hardware, coordinating with fabrication and assembly vendors and reviewing manufacturing packages

• Prepare design documentation, test procedures, bills of materials, and engineering reports

• Support environmental, thermal, field, and system-level testing

• Collaborate with RF engineers to address grounding, shielding, noise, interference, and signal-integrity issues

Requirements

• BS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent industry experience

• 3–7 years of relevant hardware-development experience

• Experience with schematic capture and PCB development

• Strong understanding of analog, digital, and power electronics

• Hands-on experience with oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, logic analyzers, and related laboratory equipment

• Experience bringing up and debugging assembled PCBs

• Familiarity with embedded hardware interfaces and common communication protocols

• Ability to interpret component datasheets and translate system requirements into practical hardware designs

• Strong troubleshooting, documentation, and communication skills

• Ability to work effectively in a fast-moving prototype-development environment

• Practical, curious, and comfortable working directly with hardware

• Able to work independently while seeking guidance when appropriate

Preferred Experience

• Experience with Altium Designer, Cadence, KiCad, or similar PCB design tools

• Experience designing multi-power-rail systems with power-sequencing requirements

• Familiarity with RF-aware PCB layout, grounding, shielding, and EMI/EMC practices, and exposure to controlling RF ICs, data converters, or multichannel hardware

• Working knowledge of microcontrollers, Linux-based single-board computers, or FPGA interfaces, plus experience with thermal sensors, current monitoring, fan control, or system-health monitoring

• Basic Python, C, or C skills for hardware testing and automation, and exposure to low-volume prototype manufacturing and contract manufacturers

• Experience in aerospace, communications, sensing, robotics, or other advanced-hardware environments

• Comfortable with shifting requirements in an early-stage environment, with interest in growing into broader technical responsibility as the team scales

Logistical Requirements

• This position is on-site in San Francisco, CA

U.S. Citizenship Requirement

• This role requires U.S. citizenship.

Competitive compensation plus meaningful early-stage ownership grant. Compensation is determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual pay may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities, and internal equity.

Benefit Highlights

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage through a Blue Shield Platinum PPO plan

• Low-cost primary care and specialist visits, with no referral required

• Preventive care, prenatal visits, and children's dental and vision covered at no cost

• 401(k) retirement savings plan

Equal Opportunity

Our client is an equal opportunity employer. They evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

About AdAstra

AdAstra Talent Advisors is a headhunting and talent advising firm focused on the Climate, Space, and Defense sectors of Hard Tech. We specialize in pairing highly technical and executive talent with some of the world’s leading Hard Tech startups.

At AdAstra, we catalyze the innovations that future generations depend on by placing the right people in the right seats. Our dedicated work enables inconceivable technology from Earth, to the stars. And it’s all because of trailblazing talent like you - those driven to do what’s never been done before. 

We care about long term relationships with both candidates and companies. Even if the role we initially discuss isn’t a perfect fit, it’s likely we’ll have something relevant to share with you in the future. 

Join us on our journey by following along via LinkedIn!

CEO, Seyka Mejeur  |  LinkedIn profile

CTO / COO, Brian Mejeur  |  LinkedIn profile

AdAstra Talent Advisors  |  LinkedIn profile

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