Electrical Design Engineer

Greater Denver Metro, Colorado

To satisfy US Government ITAR requirements, only US Citizens and current Permanent Residents of the United States can be considered

@Orchard has been retained by a rapidly growing leader in the field of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite technology and signal intelligence. Our client is dedicated to the mission of delivering timely and reliable Earth imagery, supporting diverse applications in defense & intelligence, disaster response, energy, environmental monitoring, and more. As a fully vertically integrated satellite engineering firm, they utilize cutting-edge technology to manufacture and operate an advanced constellation of SAR imaging satellites. 

As an Electrical Design Engineer, do you want to:

·        Ship real hardware to space—and own it end-to-end? 

·        Work on small, highly skilled teams with immediate impact?

·        Grow professionally in a culture that values mentorship, autonomy, and technical excellence?

·        Help shape the future of Earth observation with modern engineering.

As an Electrical 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, and operations teams to bring high-reliability, space-ready electronics to life. You will present across disciplines to help facilitate ideas, product readiness, and conduct reviews.

Typical Responsibilities:

·        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.

·        Scale up our client’s 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, contribute to internal process improvements, and elevate the overall quality of the team.

·        Engage with external vendors and CMs, ensuring delivery quality, resolving DFM/DFT issues, and ensuring on-time delivery.

·        Contribute to failure analysis and root-cause investigations across flight or test anomalies.

Your background will include:

·        Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, or equivalent.

·        4+ years of experience designing and debugging satellite systems, or systems of similar complexity, requiring the ability to operate in extreme conditions such as space.

·        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.

Compensation 

The annual salary range for this role, as it is posted, is $91,187 - $ 136,780. The final job level and annual salary will be determined based on the education, qualification, knowledge, skills, ability, and experience of the final candidate(s), specific office location and calibrated against relevant market data and internal team equity. 

Established in 2010, @Orchard has an exceptional reputation, providing talent acquisition solutions to time-sensitive, talent scarcity issues to deliver better talent management ROI.  Our specialty lies in the critical area of program talent acquisition and resource management, not in one narrow skillset, but across many areas of technical and functional delivery. To learn more about our other exciting opportunities, visit our Jobs Page at www.atorchard.com.