Avionics Engineer

Department: Aircraft

Location: Oxnard

Compensation: $130K – $200K • Offers Equity

Employment Type: FullTime

Swarm Aero is redefining air power, building the largest swarming UAV and the most versatile swarming aircraft network in the world. The company is moving quickly to launch the first aircraft designed specifically for swarming, as well as the Command & Control software to mobilize swarms of thousands of heterogeneous autonomous assets and empower human operators to achieve superhuman results.

The team has created and exited multiple startups, negotiated defense deals worth billions of dollars, and designed and built 30+ novel aircraft, with aerospace experience from Scaled Composites, Airbus, Archer Aviation, Blue Origin, and Boom Supersonic.

About the Role
We’re looking for an avionics engineer who is equally comfortable with a multimeter and a CAD model. You’ll own the electrical and electronic systems that make the aircraft fly: sensors, flight computers, radios, power, and the harnesses that tie it all together. You’ll work day to day with our embedded software team, but your focus is the hardware: integrating it, testing it, breaking it on the bench, and getting it ready for the aircraft.

This role is a fit for someone early in their career who has crossed the line between mechanical and electrical engineering, whether that’s an ME who kept ending up in the wiring or an EE who kept ending up in the airframe. If you’ve built and flown something, you’ll feel at home here.

What You’ll Do

• Design, integrate, and test avionics subsystems including flight computers, GPS/INS, air data, datalinks, radios, and payload interfaces

• Develop wiring harness designs, connector pinouts, and power distribution architecture, and get them built and installed

• Build and run bench test setups and hardware-in-the-loop rigs alongside the embedded software team

• Support ground testing, integration testing, and flight test campaigns, from preflight checkouts to post-flight data review

• Troubleshoot hardware issues across electrical, mechanical, and software boundaries

• Package avionics into the airframe with attention to weight, thermal, vibration, and maintainability

• Help define and execute qualification testing for environmental, power quality, and EMI/EMC requirements

• Write the documentation that lets the next person build, test, and fix it

What You’ll Bring

• BS in Mechanical, Electrical, Aerospace, or Computer Engineering

• 1 to 4 years of hands-on experience with aircraft, UAVs, or comparable hardware systems (including significant student project or competition work)

• Working knowledge of both electrical and mechanical design: reading schematics, harness design, and 3D CAD

• Comfort in the lab with oscilloscopes, power supplies, logic analyzers, and soldering/crimping tools

• Experience with common avionics and embedded interfaces such as CAN, RS-232/422/485, Ethernet, SPI, and I2C

• A builder’s mindset: you prototype quickly, test honestly, and iterate

• Ability to work on-site in Oxnard and support testing at off-site locations as needed

• U.S. citizenship required due to the nature of our work

Nice to Have

• Experience on a flight test program, whether at a company, a lab, or a university team (AIAA DBF, SUAS, rocketry, Formula SAE electronics)

• Familiarity with MIL-STD-1553, ARINC 429, MIL-STD-704, MIL-STD-461, or DO-160

• Harness or PCB design tools such as Altium, Capital, E3.series, or SolidWorks Electrical

• Python or MATLAB for test automation and data analysis

• Experience with PX4, ArduPilot, or other autopilot integration

• Active security clearance or eligibility to obtain one

ITAR requirement

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Swarm Aero is an equal opportunity employer. We value diverse backgrounds and experiences and make employment decisions without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, or disability.

What We Offer

• Meaningful equity in a high-growth defense technology company

• Competitive base salary commensurate with experience

• Medical, dental, vision, and 401k

• PTO and paid sick leave

• Monthly wellness stipend

• Daily catered lunch (office)

• Paid parental leave

• Direct impact on a critical national security mission

• A world-class team of engineers and operators solving genuinely hard problems