Electrical Design Engineer

Overview

Capella Space is a pioneer in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite technology and space-based signal intelligence. We empower government, commercial, and research organizations around the world with high-resolution, timely Earth insights that drive better decisions across defense and intelligence, disaster response, infrastructure monitoring, environmental protection, energy, and more. Capella designs, builds, and operates an advanced constellation of commercial SAR satellites. Our satellites are backed by a fully automated tasking, collection, and delivery platform, delivering fast, reliable insights when and where our customers need them most.

Capella is a subsidiary of IonQ, a global leader in quantum computing, charting the future of Earth observation, with a mission to bring quantum computing to space and enable on-orbit analytics. Capella Space has been recognized for its innovation and partnerships with government agencies and industry leaders. What makes Capella unique: we build the future of SAR with a mission-driven, collaborative culture that values curiosity, integrity, and bold thinking.

If you’re ready to solve problems others call impossible, this is the place for you.

Electrical Hardware Design Engineer
, you will own full-cycle PCBA designs—from concept to flight readiness. You will work cross-functionally with RF, mechanical, software, and operations teams to bring high-reliability, space-ready electronics to life. You will present across disciplines to facilitate ideas, product readiness, and reviews.

• Drive the full electrical design lifecycle for spaceflight hardware: schematic capture, layout, bring-up, test, and manufacturing handoff
• Develop robust analog/digital designs for mission-critical systems under environmental and performance constraints
• Participate and host collaborative cross-disciplinary design reviews sharing feedback and shaping solutions with a team of experienced engineers
• Provide critical input to schedule planning and hardware requirements
• Lead board-level bring-up and debugging
  , integrating firmware/software with embedded systems
• Define test plans and verification strategies that meet flight readiness requirements
• Play a key role in scaling up our manufacturing facility bringing hardware from prototype to low-volume production
• Collaborate across teams
  —mechanical, RF, software, and systems—to ensure seamless integration
• Mentor early-career engineers contributing to internal process improvements and elevating the overall quality of the team
• Engage with external vendors and contract manufacturers
  , ensuring delivery quality, resolving DFM/DFT issues, and on-time delivery
• Contribute to failure analysis and root-cause investigations across flight or test anomalies

• You consistently deliver flight-quality hardware on schedule with minimal oversight
• You proactively identify and articulate system-level risks and drive mitigations early
• You communicate across hardware/software and cross-functional gaps with confidence and clarity
• You make thoughtful trade-offs in constrained environments and justify them with data
• You show curiosity about advanced areas like architecture optimization or radiation mitigation

• 4+ years of experience designing and debugging
• Proficiency in Altium Designer (or similar ECAD tools)
• Hands-on experience with lab instruments (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power analyzers, etc.)
• Solid understanding of digital buses (I2C, SPI, UART, RS422, CAN, USB, PCIe, Ethernet, etc.)
• Familiarity with board bring-up, test planning, and design verification workflows
• Experience interacting with contract manufacturers, supporting DFM reviews, and resolving production issues
• Strong documentation habits and organizational skills
• To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, Capella employees must be a U.S. citizen, lawful U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or the U.S. Department of Commerce