The posting
About Castelion
Castelion is bringing a new approach to defense development and production: one that focuses on short, iterative design cycles, rapid testing in development, and modern commercial manufacturing strategies for production at scale. We're designing, building, and testing next generation long range strike weapons systems to give America and its Allies a definitive edge and deter future conflicts.
Lead Avionics Engineer - Flight Termination System
As the Lead Avionics Engineer specializing in Flight Termination Systems (FTS), you will be responsible for the design, development, testing, and qualification of systems that ensure the safe termination of a flight if it deviates from its planned trajectory. You will work with both hardware and software components, as well as coordinating with various key stakeholders.
Responsibilities
- Own system and electrical architecture development and integration of Flight Termination System components (RF command interfaces, control boxes, electronic safe and arm devices, initiators, and destruct charges) for the Blackbeard vehicle.
- Define detailed system design, including component selection, system interconnect schematics, RF interfaces, consumable budgets, harness and channel capabilities, fault tolerance, and reliability.
- Execute system validation, including compatibility testing with range assets, system electrical testing in HITL, and flight test qualification.
- Collaborate closely with regulatory partners and Range Safety to develop and maintain a tailored set of requirements specific to the Blackbeard program that defines FTS certification.
- Design and analysis of safety-critical circuits for ordnance initiation and command destruct receivers.
- Define test plans, processes, fixturing, test sequences, and generate technical reports to show compliance to strict regulatory standards.
- Lead qualification and acceptance testing of components under rigorous test environments (shock, vibration, thermal cycle, etc.) that validate component reliability and functionality.
- Conduct analyses to support reliability data and reduced scope of testing
- Generate and maintain detailed system & component documentation and specifications
- Act as the technical expert for the overall system and piece-part components, leading component & system anomaly root cause investigations and with data-driven rationale to determine hardware disposition & corrective
- Challenge applicability of baseline requirements through understanding the intent of the regulatory requirement versus solely the face value as-written requirement.
- Act as the responsible engineer for flightworthiness of the Flight Termination System all the way through launch, validating the as-built system is a GO for launch.
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelors degree in electrical engineering
- 5+ years of experience with electrical component design, system level integration of electronic components, or system level testing
Preferred Skills and Experience
- Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills, enthusiasm for problem solving, and desire to optimize modern defense production
- 3+ years of experience designing and analyzing electrical systems via professional work experience, project/research-based student experience, or a combination of both
- Strong background in RF link design and validation, including antenna integration, link budget analysis, and EMI/EMC mitigation for high-reliability environments.
- Skilled in designing low-noise, isolated power supplies, DCDC converters, and battery management systems for mission-critical hardware.
- Deep familiarity with U.S. range safety standards (AFSPCMAN 91710, RCC 319, NASA 8719) and certification processes with FAA/AST and DoD ranges.
- Experience designing, integrating, and troubleshooting FTS hardware with flight avionics, telemetry, and ordnance devices, including safe-arm devices and separation mechanisms.
- Hands-on leadership of vibration, thermal, shock, and EMI/EMC test campaigns per MILSTD810 and related aerospace standards.
- Proficient in hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing, RF link verification, and fault injection testing for destruct command reliability.
- Strong project management skills and effective communication of technical concepts across multi-disciplinary teams
- Leadership experience on a project or research team
- Knowledge of electro-mechanical devices, actuators, motors, or explosives
- Understanding of fundamental principles of explosives, solid mechanics, and dynamics
- Experience with system design and testing for hardware sub-systems such as RF, power, communications, and sensors
- Familiarity with electrical test equipment (multimeters, oscilloscopes, power supplies, etc.), and basic analysis techniques
- Experience writing engineering software for test automation, data review, and design analysis, preferably in MATLAB or Python
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Leadership Qualities
- Bias to Action and Creative Problem Solving. Desire and experience questioning assumptions in ways that lead to break through ideas that are ultimately implemented. Successfully bring in applicable processes/concepts/materials from other industries to achieve efficiency gains. Ability to personally resolve minor issues in development without requiring significant support.
- High Commitment, High Initiative. A successful candidate will have a genuine passion for Castelion's mission and consistently look for ways to contribute to the company's technical goals and prevent hardware blockers. Ability to work in a fast paced, autonomously driven, and demanding atmosphere. Strong sense of accountability and integrity.
- Clear Communicator. Proactively communicates blockers. Trusted in previous roles to be voice of company with regulators, suppliers, gate keepers and customers. Capable of tactfully managing relationships with stakeholders to achieve company-desired outcomes without compromising relationships. Emails, IMs and verbal interactions are logical, drive clarity, and detailed enough to eliminate ambiguity.
ITAR Requirements
- To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.
Employment with Castelion is governed on the basis of competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.
All employees are granted long-term stock incentives as part of their employment at Castelion. All employees receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental insurance, and the company offers four weeks of paid time off per year.
