Job Summary

Design, analyze, build, and test the electronics behind space science missions.

At the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), electrical engineers develop custom flight and ground electronics for scientific instruments and spacecraft exploring Earth, the Sun, the Moon, planets, and the wider universe. We are seeking a senior electrical hardware engineer who enjoys hands-on circuit design and can carry high-reliability electronics from requirements and schematic capture through PCB implementation, board bring-up, environmental qualification, and system integration.

This position requires you to be a motivated, largely self-directed individual contributor with capabilities to also lead a small electrical design team. You will work within a multidisciplinary mission team, make and document consequential hardware decisions, and provide technical direction to keep the electrical design effort moving forward. You will often be the responsible engineer for a circuit-card assembly or instrument electrical subsystem, but people management is not the focus of the position.

What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be

• Focused design in at least one area of discipline including analog, mixed-signal, power, motor-control, embedded, and high-speed digital electronics for spaceflight instruments and small spacecraft. You should have deep experience in at least one of these areas.
• Develop electrical requirements, interfaces, architecture, grounding, power and performance budgets, fault-management concepts, and verification plans with systems, FPGA, software, mechanical, thermal, science, manufacturing, quality, parts, and radiation engineers.
• Capture schematics in Altium Designer, guide and review PCB layout, and release circuit-card assembly (PCBA) design data for fabrication and assembly.
• Select EEE parts; complete derating, worst-case, reliability, and circuit-performance analyses; and model designs using LTspice, PSpice, Ansys, or comparable simulation tools.
• Bring up and debug new hardware in the laboratory, support EMI and EMC, thermal-vacuum, vibration, and other environmental tests, investigate anomalies, and integrate electronics with instruments or spacecraft.
• Prepare and present design decisions, technical risks, verification results, and readiness evidence at internal design reviews and mission milestone reviews. Provide technical leadership and mentoring within small project teams.
• Other Duties Assigned

The engineer who will thrive here

You can move between schematic design, PCB review, circuit analysis, laboratory troubleshooting, supplier conversations, and project decisions without losing the technical thread. You communicate assumptions and residual risk plainly, work well across disciplines, and build the documentation and configuration discipline required for reproducible, reviewable flight hardware. Your experience allows you to work day-to-day with minimal direction and you are excited to mentor early career engineers and student engineering assistants.

What You Should Know

• Because this position requires access to export-controlled information, applicants must be U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or other protected individuals as defined by applicable U.S. export-control laws.
• The work requires regular onsite presence in Boulder for flight hardware, laboratory work, and integration. Casual remote work 1 or 2 days per week is possible with project approval.

What We Can Offer

$120,416.44 - $189,585.27/per year.

CU Boulder offers a leading 401(a) retirement savings package matched at 200% with your mandatory 5% salary contribution. That's 15% of your pay invested for retirement every month, with 100% immediate vesting through TIAA. CU employees are eligible for medical, dental, and life insurances, plus 3 weeks paid vacation annually and paid sick leave. Additional benefits information can be found at https://www.colorado.edu/jobs/benefits .

Benefits

At the University of Colorado Boulder , we are committed to supporting the holistic health and well-being of our employees. Our comprehensive benefits package includes medical, dental, and retirement plans; generous paid time off; tuition assistance for you and your dependents; and an ECO Pass for local transit. As one of Boulder County's largest employers, CU Boulder offers an inspiring academic community and access to world-class outdoor recreation. In fact, CU Boulder has been named one of Forbes' America's Best Large Employers , ranking #4 among large employers in Colorado and #28 among universities nationwide. Explore additional perks and programs through the CU Advantage program.

Be Statements

Be ambitious. Be groundbreaking. Be Boulder.

What We Require

• A bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, or a closely related field with at least 8 years of relevant experience; a master's with at least 6 years; or a doctorate with at least 4 years.
• Demonstrated performance with technical ownership of a complex electronic assembly or subsystem carried from requirements and architecture through production, qualification, and integration.
• Deep capability in at least one relevant design domain, such as analog or sensor electronics, power conversion, motor control, embedded systems, FPGA-enabled hardware, or high-speed digital design, with working breadth across adjacent disciplines.
• Schematic capture and PCB design experience using Altium Designer, or transferable experience with Cadence OrCAD or KiCad.
• Experience modeling and simulating circuit performance using LTspice, Ansys, MATLAB, Python, or similar tools
• Hands-on experience in the lab for board bring-up, electrical test, and troubleshooting with standard laboratory equipment such as oscilloscopes, power supplies, spectrum analyzers.
• Experience working in multidisciplinary teams and providing technical leadership for a major engineering work package, design review, or hardware-development effort.

Strong candidates build expertise in different ways. If this work excites you and you meet many of these core qualifications, please apply even if your background does not include every core or preferred qualification.

What You Will Need

You are comfortable making progress when requirements are incomplete and several risks interact. You can move between architecture, schematic and PCB review, circuit analysis, laboratory troubleshooting, supplier conversations, and program decisions without losing the technical thread. You communicate assumptions and residual risk plainly, mentor other engineers, and build the documentation and configuration discipline needed for reproducible, reviewable flight hardware. You are motivated by LASP's mission of exploration and furthering humanity's understanding of the cosmos.

What We Would Like You to Have

• Experience with spaceflight, avionics, or other high-reliability electronics, including radiation effects and mitigation, EEE parts, and design for thermal, vacuum, vibration, or shock environments.
• Working knowledge of electronics manufacturing standards, including IPC-6012 and IPC/WHMA-A-620 and experience selecting EEE parts and applying derating guidance such as NASA EEE-INST-002.
• Experience using advanced design simulation and analysis software such as Siemens HyperLynx for signal integrity, power integrity, or high-speed PCB analysis.
• Knowledge of high-speed digital interfaces and hardware design using AMD Xilinx and Microchip FPGAs and DDR3 or DDR4 memory.
• Experience presenting to and interfacing with project customers through requirements definition, project milestone reviews, design reviews, and anomaly investigations.
• Experience with EMI and EMC design, test, troubleshooting, and corrective-action closure.
• Experience with design for manufacture and test, rigid-flex PCB or harness design, supplier coordination, production support, or automated electrical test.
• Experience performing worst-case circuit analysis, electrical parts stress analysis, failure modes and effects analysis, or reliability analysis for high-consequence hardware.

Special Instructions

To apply, please submit the following materials:

1. Resume or CV.
2. Cover Letter.

(Optional) Transcripts/Proof of Degree: If you are selected as the finalist, your degree will be verified by the CU Boulder Campus Human Resources Department using an approved online vendor. However, if your degree was obtained outside of the United States, please submit an English-translated version as an Optional document.

Please apply by 9/30/2026 for consideration.

Note: Application materials will not be accepted via email. For consideration, applications must be submitted through CU Boulder Jobs.

In compliance with the Colorado Job Application Fairness Act, in any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.