Who We Are
At Firestorm, we're on a mission to revolutionize how defense solutions are designed and delivered. Our goal is to empower U.S. ally nations to effectively deter aggressors—regardless of their defense budget—through innovative, cost-efficient technologies. We call this vision "democratized deterrence." As a VC-backed company at the intersection of defense and Silicon Valley, we're pioneering the development of mission-adaptable aerial vehicles that put power back into the hands of operators. By prioritizing operator effectiveness, we're pioneering a new era of aerial vehicle design. We aim to upend the traditional defense procurement model by delivering world-class capabilities at a fraction of the usual cost.
About the Role
As a Staff Electrical Engineer, you will play a central role in developing critical electrical hardware for our aircraft. The role spans complex technical challenges including power distribution, power conversion, battery charging, high-performance processing, high-speed network communications, and system-level electrical integration.
This is a hands-on engineering role for someone with deep technical expertise in power electronics and electrical system design who is comfortable moving between detailed circuit development, system-level tradeoffs, and difficult hardware debugging.
What You'll Do
- Evaluate, interpret and resolve systems engineering problems to meet the design requirements
- Full-cycle hardware development: Own the entire flow — concept, modeling, worst case analysis, schematic capture, simulation, prototyping, design reiteration for improving design maturity, testing and validation
- Design embedded control electronics from concept to production, including hardware selection, schematic & PCB design, board bring-up, system-level integration, and flight test
- Design multilayer, HDI, flex, and rigid-flex PCBs for space-, weight-, and thermally constrained applications
- Generate comprehensive engineering documentation, including ECOs, fabrication drawings, BOMs, and release packages
- Conduct root cause analysis of PCB design or layout issues, identify corrective actions, and implement solutions to improve performance, manufacturability, or reliability
- Design and maintain cable harness documentation using Altium Harness Designer
- Interface with vendors to source and select appropriate components for designs, ensuring quality and timely delivery
- Support project timelines and ensure that technical milestones are met, reporting on progress to senior management
- Work closely with other electrical, mechanical, software, firmware, and test engineers to deliver fully functional products
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, or a related technical field
- Minimum 5+ years of experience designing and releasing electrical hardware for products that have shipped, flown, operated in the field, or otherwise seen real-world use
- U.S. Person status (Citizen or Permanent Resident) required due to ITAR regulations
- Strong electrical engineering fundamentals across analog, digital, mixed-signal, power, sensing, and communication circuits
- Strong proficiency with industry-standard EDA tools (e.g., Altium Designer, Cadence Allegro/OrCAD)
- Working knowledge of PCB layout tradeoffs, signal integrity, power integrity, grounding, EMI/EMC, thermal behavior, and manufacturability
- Familiarity with signal integrity and transmission line concepts (e.g., phase matching, crosstalk, insertion/return loss, termination, and BGA breakout strategies)
- Strong root-cause analysis skills and the ability to move from ambiguous symptoms to clear technical conclusions and practical corrective actions
- Clear communication and documentation habits, especially when decisions affect safety, reliability, production, or fleet operations
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with avionics, aerospace, drones, robotics, automotive electronics, satellites, or other high-reliability hardware
- Experience designing for weight, power consumption, thermal limits, vibration, shock, EMI/EMC, environmental exposure, or high-volume manufacturing
- Familiarity with signal integrity simulation and analysis tools
- Experience with CAN, UART, SPI, I2C, Ethernet, GNSS, radios, motor-control electronics, battery systems, or sensor interfaces
Compensation
- Base salary: $165,000 - $190,000
- Equity: Meaningful equity grant in a growth-stage defense technology company
About Firestorm
Firestorm Labs is a San Diego-based defense technology company specializing in the rapid development and deployment of modular, mission-adaptable unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for military applications. Firestorm's xCell platform enables distributed, containerized drone production at or near the point of need, supporting on-demand fabrication in austere or contested environments.
Interested in this role?
Apply now to join Firestorm.