Principal Aircraft Electrical Engineer

Principal Aircraft Electrical Engineer

Arlington, VA, Mountain View, CA, San Diego, CA

We're a combat-tested group of engineers, operators, and entrepreneurs who believe America's edge depends on autonomous airpower that's trusted and deployable today not in 2040. Backed by tier-one investors, we've secured the runway - financial, regulatory, and literal - to move at startup speed while tackling a national-security mission that matters. We've structured the company for radical ownership: no silos, no "systems integrator" overhead, just tightly knit mission-focused IPTs that live and breathe the hardware and code they ship.

If you thrive where hard-tech ambition meets national-security urgency, you'll build faster here than anywhere else. Let's get after it.

• Strong Core Values, Startup Execution. Integrity, Service Before Self, Excellence, Honor, Courage, Commitment—powered by a bias for action and a "figure it out" mindset.
• Self-Starters Only. You'll have clear objectives, a blank sheet of paper, and the trust (plus capital) to move fast. Bureaucracy stays out of your way.
• One Team, No Tourists. Whether you're tuning a control law at 2 a.m. or heat-treating a Ti-6
  
  Al-4V spar, everyone sweats the details. We celebrate wins together and own failures together.

• Mission With a Pulse. Every line of code, bracket, or test you deliver expands the toolbox of the warfighter on Day 1 of a conflict.
• Resources Without Red Tape. VC speed + DoD customer pull: access to test ranges, flight hours, and operator feedback while retaining startup agility.
• Career-Defining Upside. Significant equity, best-in-class benefits, and the chance to see your product deliver in months, not decades.

• Design HV/LV power architecture (28 VDC & 270 VDC), including generation, conversion, and distribution.
• Create wiring diagrams & EWIS bundles per AS50881; run load-flow and failure-mode analysis.
• Ensure compliance with MIL-STD-704,-461, & DO-160G sections 16-19.
• Integrate autonomy compute racks with liquid-cooling or forced-air solutions.
• Support EMI/EMC test campaigns and lightning-indirect effects analysis.

• B.S. EE or similar; >7 yrs aircraft electrical-power-system design.
• CAD experience
• Proven record of integrating air vehicle power conversion and generation
• Proven record solving tricky grounding/noise issues on composite airframes.
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Top Secret security clearance.

• Experience with high-voltage battery systems or hybrid-electric propulsion.
• DER or ODA UM Experience for EWIS.

Base Salary: $145,000 to 225,000 USD

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers; and are considered part of Atropos's total compensation package.

Additionally, Atropos offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees, including:

• Platinum Healthcare Benefits:
  Atropos offers comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans with 100% employer-paid premiums and little to no cost to you
• Basic Life/AD&D and long-term disability insurance 100% covered by Atropos, plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents
• Unlimited PTO, with minimum of 15 days enforced
• 20 weeks of paid Caregiver & Wellness Leave to care for a family member, bond with your baby, or tend to your own medical condition
• Family Planning & Parenting Support:
  Fertility (eg, IVF, preservation), adoption, and gestational carrier coverage with additional benefits and resources to provide support from planning to parenting
• Mental Health Resources:
  We provide free mental health resources 24/7 including therapy, life coaching, and more. Additional work-life services, such as free legal and financial support, available to you as well
• Tuition and professional development reimbursement for STEM, MBA, and…