Staff Electrical Hardware Design Engineer

About this role

<p><strong><span data-contrast="auto"><span data-contrast="none">Location: </span></span></strong><span data-contrast="auto"><span data-contrast="none">This role is based onsite at our Louisville, CO office. </span></span><strong><span data-contrast="auto"><span data-contrast="none"><br>Travel: </span></span></strong><span data-contrast="auto"><span data-contrast="none">Up to 10%, domestic or international.</span></span><br><strong>Job ID:</strong> 578</p> <p><strong>About Capella</strong></p> <p>Capella, an <a href="https://ionq.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com">IonQ</a> company, spans national security, advanced sensing, and next-generation compute to deliver secure, mission-ready intelligence. Capella’s culture is built on collaboration, rigorous engineering, and a shared commitment to delivering solutions that strengthen global stability and security. Team members work side-by-side with some of the most innovative minds in space systems, quantum-enabled technologies, and mission-critical operations.</p> <p>Capella values curiosity, resilience, and a willingness to tackle hard problems with precision and creativity. Capella welcomes and encourages applicants whose perspectives are historically underrepresented in technology, national security, and aerospace. No prior space experience is required. Diverse viewpoints strengthen Capella’s ability to innovate and deliver meaningful impact for partners worldwide.</p> <p><strong><span data-contrast="auto"><span data-contrast="none">The Role</span></span></strong></p> <p>As a Staff Electrical Hardware Design Engineer, you will take ownership of full-cycle PCBA designs, from early concept to flight readiness. You will work cross-functionally with RF, mechanical, software, FPGA/SoC, and operations teams to bring high-reliability, space-ready electronics to orbit. You will guide the Electrical Engineering team on special topics and present across disciplines to help facilitate ideas, product readiness, and conduct reviews.</p> <p><strong>Responsibilities</strong></p> <ul> <li>Own the full electrical design lifecycle for complex spaceflight hardware: Concept of operations, requirements engineering, schematic capture, layout, bring-up, test, and manufacturing handoff </li> <li>Develop robust analog/digital designs for mission-critical systems under environmental and performance constraints </li> <li>Organize collaborative cross disciplinary design reviews sharing feedback and shaping solutions with a team of experienced engineers </li> <li>Provide critical input to schedule planning, hardware requirements, and process improvements </li> <li>Lead board-level bring-up and debugging, integrating firmware/software/FPGA with embedded systems </li> <li>Define test plans and verification strategies that meet flight readiness requirements </li> <li>Play a key role in scaling up our manufacturing facility bringing hardware from prototype to low-volume production </li> <li>Collaborate across teams- mechanical, RF, software, FPGA/SoC, and systems to ensure seamless integration </li> <li>Mentor early-career engineers contributing to internal process improvements and elevating the overall quality of the team </li> <li>Engage with external vendors and CMs, ensuring delivery quality, resolving DFM/DFT issues, and ensuring on-time delivery </li> <li>Drive failure analysis and root-cause investigations across flight or test anomalies</li> </ul> <p><strong>What Success Looks Like</strong> </p> <ul> <li>You consistently deliver flight-quality hardware on schedule with minimal oversight </li> <li>You proactively identify and articulate system-level risks and drive mitigations early </li> <li>You communicate across hardware/software and cross-functional gaps with confidence and clarity </li> <li>You make thoughtful trade-offs in constrained environments and justify them with data </li> <li>You show curiosity about advanced areas like architecture optimization or radiation mitigation, even if they’re outside your scope for now </li> <li>You exhibit advanced, wide-ranging experience in electrical engineering, using in-depth professional knowledge </li> <li>You get things done, align with stakeholders, and document concisely  </li> </ul> <p><strong>Qualifications</strong> </p> <ul> <li>Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or related field </li> <li>8+ years of experience designing and debugging PCBAs </li> <li>Proficiency in Altium Designer (or similar ECAD tools) </li> <li>Hands-on experience with lab instruments (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power analyzers, etc.) </li> <li>Solid understanding of digital buses (I2C, SPI, UART, RS422, CAN, USB, PCIe, Ethernet etc.)  </li> <li>Familiarity with board bring-up, test planning, and design verification workflows </li> <li>Experience interacting with contract manufacturers, supporting DFM reviews, and resolving production issues </li> <li>Strong documentation habits and organizational…