Spacecraft represent the most pressing unmet need across the entire aerospace industry. As more launch vehicles come online and the cost to orbit decreases, more companies launching payloads to space continue to emerge. For the first time in history, this influx of payload companies combined with reduced launch costs has resulted in a massive increase in need for commercial spacecraft platforms, known as satellite buses. These buses hold the payloads of our customers and are flown on launch vehicles. Apex manufactures these satellite buses at scale using a combination of software, vertical integration, and hardware that is designed for manufacturing. Our spacecraft enable the future of society: ranging from earth observation to communications and more. Reports to: VP of Engineering Direct reports: Avionics engineering team leads across Flight Computers & Embedded Compute; Power Electronics (PCDU, DC-DC conversion, energy storage); and Electrical Harnessing
Responsibilities:
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Team Leadership & Technical Strategy
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- Lead, mentor, and grow the Avionics Engineering team, establishing a culture of technical excellence, ownership, accountability, and continuous development.
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- Define and execute the long-term technical strategy, architecture, and engineering roadmap for spacecraft electrical systems across existing and new product lines.
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- Own organizational planning, hiring strategy, resource allocation, and team development to support Apex’s continued growth and long-term vision.
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Avionics Architecture & Hardware Development
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- Lead architecture, design, development, verification, and delivery of flight computers and embedded compute, electrical harnessing, power generation, energy storage, power distribution, and DC-DC conversion systems.
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- Remain hands-on in hardware development, contributing directly to critical design decisions, technical problem-solving, and complex engineering challenges — deep leadership in your area of expertise plus broad judgment across adjacent electrical disciplines.
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- Drive system-level design trades balancing performance, reliability, cost, schedule, and manufacturability.
Requirements:
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Standards, Reviews & Reliability
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- Establish engineering standards, development practices, and verification strategies that improve execution and reliability.
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- Lead technical design reviews, challenge assumptions, and empower engineers to own solutions within their specialties.
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- Own avionics reliability for harsh environments — fault-tolerant, redundant architectures and robustness to radiation, thermal, vibration, and EMI/EMC.
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Cross-Functional Delivery
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- Partner with flight software, mechanical, propulsion, systems, manufacturing, and production engineering to ensure clean spacecraft integration — supplying the avionics expertise the Vehicle Directors’ Integration & Test and Satellite Design Engineers build to.
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- Own technical execution, priorities, risk management, and delivery across multiple concurrent spacecraft programs.
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- Identify opportunities for innovation, architectural commonality, and continuous improvement so each new program inherits proven, flight-heritage avionics instead of starting over.
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- Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field.
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- Experience leading avionics or electrical hardware development across multiple spacecraft programs or product lines.
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- Direct technical ownership of flight computers, onboard computing hardware (including FPGA/SoC-based designs), power electronics, or other flight-critical spacecraft electrical systems.
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- Experience scaling hardware from prototype or initial flight designs into repeatable, high-rate production, including design for manufacturability and standardization.