CesiumAstro

Principal Staff Engineer

CesiumAstro$150K — $180K *
Aerospace & Defense
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree and 15-19 years or Master's degree and 12-17 years of experience in relevant engineering fields.
  • Deep understanding of engineering design and fabrication principles.
  • Extensive experience in enterprise-level hardware development strategies.
  • Expertise in signal integrity, EMI/EMC, system interfaces, and multidisciplinary integration.
  • Proven ability to assess engineering risks and improve product capabilities.
  • Proficiency in EDA and circuit simulation tools like Altium and MATLAB.
  • Strong background in engineering analysis and collaboration tools.

Responsibilities

  • Collaborate with Engineering Leadership to enhance engineering execution and processes.
  • Define enterprise engineering strategies and technical roadmaps for product development.
  • Foster agile and rapid prototype development environments.
  • Motivate and facilitate communication among interdisciplinary teams.
  • Mentor teams in detailed systems and software design.
  • Establish organizational design practice standards.
  • Identify and eliminate operational friction across functions.
  • Shape and lead critical engineering initiatives and resolve complex challenges.
  • Evaluate system performance and define improvements for reliability.
  • Approve methodologies and recommendations for major development programs.

Benefits

  • Company stock options provided as part of the compensation package.
  • Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
  • Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) options.
  • Life and disability insurance included in benefits.
  • Retirement plans available to employees.
Full Job Description
We are looking to add a Principal Staff Engineer to our team. In this position, you will serve as the organization's foremost authority on engineering design by defining enterprise engineering strategies, advancing technologies, and shaping design architectures across products and platforms. This role contributes to product development by guiding strategic engineering decisions, strengthening engineering capabilities, and advising executive leadership on complex technical initiatives that support long-term business objectives and mission success. Working cross-functionally with electrical, mechanical, systems, software, manufacturing, integration and test, quality, and program teams, this role will identify and solve technical challenges, operational friction, production yields, and post-delivery anomalies. The role will also support electrical design, analysis, integration, and verification throughout the product development lifecycle and across all engineering domains. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
  • Working with Engineering Leadership to continously improve company-wide execution and quality of engineering execution along with engineering processes
  • Define enterprise engineering strategies, architectures, design methodologies, and technology roadmaps supporting current and future products
  • Foster an environment that allows for rapid and agile prototype development.
  • Motivate team members engagement and facilitate interdisciplinary communications.
  • Guide and mentor development teams in the detailed design of systems, subsystems, subassemblies, critical parts, and FW/SW.
  • Establish organizational standards for design practices.
  • Remove friction between the functional organizations.
  • Shape the organization's most critical engineering initiatives, providing technical leadership and resolving the most complex engineering challenges across multiple programs. You will be expected to work directly with our design and manufacturing engineers to identify and resolve friction points.
  • Evaluate performance, simulation results, qualification testing, and system interactions, defining improvements that strengthen product reliability and mission success.
  • Approve organizational electrical design methodologies, verification approaches, and engineering recommendations supporting major development programs.
  • Serve as the principal advisor for engineering, guiding engineering, manufacturing, integration and test, quality, program teams, and executive leadership on technical decisions.
  • Advance engineering practices across the organization by mentoring senior engineers and strengthening technical capability.
  • Define enterprise engineering standards, design methodologies, engineering processes, and technical governance across the organization and technology roadmaps .
  • Champion adoption of advanced engineering practices, design technologies, verification processes, and continuous improvement initiatives.
  • Lead transformational initiatives that enhance engineering performance, engineering efficiency, product reliability, manufacturability, innovation, and long-term technical capability.
  • Provide post-production/in-orbit customer support.
JOB REQUIREMENTS
  • Bachelor's degree with 15-19 years of related experience, or Master's degree with 12-17 years of related experience in electrical engineering, electronics engineering, computer engineering, or a related engineering field.
  • Organizational expertise in engineering design and fabrication principles.
  • Extensive experience defining enterprise level hardware development and fabrication strategies.
  • Expert understanding of signal integrity, EMI/EMC, hardware integration, qualification testing, system interfaces, multidisciplinary integration, and emerging engineering technologies.
  • Proven ability to evaluate enterprise design performance, engineering risks, and technical methodologies while defining improvements that strengthen long-term product capability.
  • Exercises sound judgment when defining enterprise engineering direction, resolving the organization's most complex technical challenges, and advising executive leadership on strategic engineering decisions.
  • Proficency in electronic design automation (EDA), circuit simulation, and analysis tools, e.g. Altium Designer, OrCAD, LTspice, MATLAB, or equivalent applications.
  • Strong expeirence in engineering analysis, configuration management, and collaboration tools, e.g. Windchill, Git, Jira, or equivalent applications.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
CesiumAstro considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role and associated responsibilities, a candidate's work experience, education/training, and key skills. Full-time employment offers include company stock options and a generous benefits package including health, dental, vision, HSA, FSA, life, disability and retirement plans.

About CesiumAstro

CesiumAstro is a technology company that provides advanced communications systems for satellite and space-based applications. The company's systems use advanced software-defined radio technology to provide high-bandwidth, low-latency communications for a variety of applications, including remote sensing, earth observation, and satellite communications. CesiumAstro's systems are designed to be highly modular and scalable, allowing them to be easily integrated into a wide range of satellite and space-based platforms. The company was founded in 2017 and is based in Austin, Texas.
Learn more about CesiumAstro
Size
100 employees
Industry
Net Income
-$1 million
Founded
2017
5 Year Trend
+80%
Revenue
$5 million

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