Team Leader - Electronics (Spaceplane)

Dawn Aerospace is looking for a skilled and motivated person to be the Team Leader (people management) in our electronics team responsible for flight systems. Make no mistake, this role does not require you to have previous experience in the aerospace industry. Instead, we are looking for someone with strong first principles understanding of electronics and are deeply engaged with the systems that they have previously worked on. Proven experience in hiring and managing an agile team in a collaborative environment is essential.

The person will be collaborating with various sub-teams to design and implement robust electronics from high level requirements, all the while contributing to our goal of achieving scalable, accessible and sustainable spaceflight.

What you will do:

• Daily management of a small and passionate team
• Translate engineering requirements and specifications into high quality, well-tested, electronic systems
• End-to-end ownership of electronics systems – from specification through design, prototype, validation, and manufacturing
• Design circuit boards for a breadth of applications, including digital, analogue, mixed signal, and power electronic systems
• Design quality and robust embedded software for microcontrollers and flight computers
• Work alongside engineers from a variety of disciplines
• Coordination with component suppliers
• Clearly document and present designs at various stages of completion
• Systems engineering, to ensure that all requirements are met, while other systems are not negatively impacted
• Production of flight hardware, prototype development, selection of vendors and production methods
• Support design reviews and mentorship for junior engineers
• This role may require travel domestically and internationally

Requirements

What we would love you to have:

• Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering or similar, or the equivalent in experience and evidence of exceptional ability
• 3+ years relevant experience in an electronics or embedded systems environment
• Proficiency in designing schematics and routing PCBs in EDA, such as Altium, Cadence or KiCad.
• Experience working with digital communication busses, such as CAN, Ethernet, RS-232, RS-485, USB, SPI, and I2C
• Experience in circuit simulation with SPICE
• Experience in selection and use of analogue sensors and signal conditioning circuits
• Experience with PCB design, working with EDA and high speed routing
• Experience with design for EMC
• Experience with testing, troubleshooting and debugging electronic hardware
• Proficiency with basic electrical laboratory equipment, including oscilloscopes and vector network analysers
• Knowledge of systems engineering
• Ability to work in a highly cross functional role
• Proven oral and written communication skills (English)

It would be great if you also had...

• Experience writing embedded software in C, C++, Rust or Python
• Experience with version management systems such as Git
• Wide range of hands-on skills from PCB assembly to wire harness/cable tree construction to automotive/aerospace standards
• Experience with design of high reliability electronics (e.g. DO-254, ECSS, NASA)
• Experience with RF systems
• Basic understanding of mechanical design fundamentals

About you

You must have the ability and desire to work in a young company. If you want a smooth and routine role, this is not for you. We believe in giving you the tools you need, then getting out of your way.

Initially, this role will predominantly involve core engineering. In future, there is the opportunity for the right candidate to grow into a programme, product and/or department leadership position.

We are looking for candidates who can take initiative, work with minimal direction and collaborate to solve complex and novel problems. Important! If you think you have what it takes but are unsure that you check every box, we still want to hear from you.

For security reasons background checks will be undertaken prior to any employment offers being made to an applicant. These checks will include nationality checks as it is a requirement of this position that you be eligible to access equipment and data regulated by the United States' International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Under these Regulations, you may be ineligible for this role if you do not hold citizenship of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, the European Union or a country that is part of NATO, or if you hold ineligible dual citizenship or nationality. For more information on these Regulations, click here ITAR Regulations.

About Dawn Aerospace

Every week we see new companies coming to market, using space-based technology in new and exciting ways we had never before imagined. Our industry is at the same inflexion point the internet was back when we went from dial-up to broadband, but there are some significant hurdles to overcome.

Dawn Aerospace was founded to redefine near-space transportation. Redefine how we deliver assets to space, position satellites on orbit and return things down to Earth to enable the vibrant and circular space economy of the future. To do this, we build scalable, accessible and sustainable spaceflight technologies – technologies that are sustainable for not just the foreseeable future, but the unforeseeable future.

Winner of Emerging Business of the Year and Innovative Hardware at the 2023 NZ Hi-Tech Awards.

Dawn Aerospace is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment with Dawn is decided based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any other manner.

Dawn Aerospace is an Accredited Employer with Immigration New Zealand.