Senior Avionics Engineer

Location: Northern Virginia (On-site/Hybrid)
Employment Type: Full-Time

An innovative aerospace company developing next-generation unmanned aircraft is seeking a Senior Avionics Engineer to lead the design, integration, and testing of avionics and electrical systems. This is a hands-on role ideal for an engineer who enjoys working across the full product life cycle, from electrical system design through to integration, testing, and flight readiness.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and develop aircraft electrical and avionics systems, including power distribution and data systems.
• Create and maintain electrical schematics and wiring harness designs.
• Perform electrical power distribution analysis, circuit sizing, and protection design.
• Support data bus architecture and communication protocols (e.g. CAN, RS-485, ARINC-429).
• Plan and support system integration, hardware bring-up, and integration testing.
• Work closely with technicians during harness fabrication and system assembly.
• Support sensor integration, data acquisition (DAQ), troubleshooting, and debugging.
• Maintain engineering documentation, drawings, and design updates.

Required Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Experience designing electrical systems and creating electrical schematics.
• Strong knowledge of DC power distribution and circuit protection.
• Experience developing and executing engineering test plans.
• Familiarity with aircraft or vehicle communication buses such as CAN, RS-485, or ARINC-429.
• Experience troubleshooting electrical and system integration issues.
• Comfortable working hands-on in laboratory, integration, and test environments.

Preferred Experience

• Experience with electrical harness design tools such as Capital or similar.
• Knowledge of aerospace wiring standards (e.g. IPC/WHMA-A-620, AS50881).
• Familiarity with RF systems used for navigation or communications.
• Experience supporting aircraft or other complex vehicle development programmes.
• Previous involvement in integration laboratories or flight test campaigns.

Additional Information

• On-site role with occasional travel to support flight testing.
• Applicants must be eligible to work in the United States without sponsorship.