Wardstone (YC F25) · 19 hours ago
Electrical Engineer - Avionics
San Francisco, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Mid, Senior Level
$100K/yr - $160K/yrWardstone is a company focused on developing high-reliability electronics for interceptor prototypes and future VLEO satellites. The Electrical Engineer will lead the design and prototyping of electronics, integrating various components and systems to ensure functionality and performance in challenging environments.
AerospaceMilitaryNational Security
No H1B
U.S. Citizen Only
Responsibilities
Design, simulate, and develop PCBs for sensing, actuation, power, and avionics
Own schematic capture, layout, DFM, component selection, and vendor interaction
Develop high-reliability power systems (DC–DC, battery systems, protection circuits, transient management)
Integrate IR cameras, Radar, IMUs, GNSS, rad-hard components, and electromechanical actuators
Develop signal-conditioning circuits, sensor fusion interfaces, and low-latency sensing+actuation to enable the autopilot to control the vehicle
Perform thermal, vibration, and shock analysis for >100km altitude environments
Support hardware qualification: TVAC, vibe, EMI/EMC, and high-G ground testing
Collaborate closely with embedded software engineers on microcontroller architectures, drivers, and electrical-firmware interfaces
Bring-up, debug, test, and iterate hardware in the lab using scopes, logic analyzers, DAQs, etc
Write requirements, test plans, and documentation
Take hardware from concept → prototype → test → flight-ready
Rapid debugging and converging on functional+performant solutions
Qualification
Required
B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field
Strong experience with PCB design tools (KiCad, Altium, or similar)
Hands-on prototyping experience: soldering, rework, bring-up, rapid iteration
Experience integrating sensors, mixed-signal electronics, or power systems
Comfort with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, protocol analyzers, and test equipment
Strong fundamentals in circuit analysis, signal integrity, noise, grounding, and EMI/EMC
Ability to own hardware end-to-end: design, build, test, debug, iterate
US CITIZENSHIP REQUIRED
Preferred
Experience with IR cameras, high-speed digital buses, or RF systems
Background in aerospace, defense, robotics, autonomous systems, automotive, or satellites
Knowledge of high-G design, radiation effects, or space-environment electronics
Embedded firmware experience (C/C++, STM32/Teensy/PIC/ESP32, RTOS)
Familiarity with power systems, motor drives, or actuator control
Experience with MIL-STD-461, DO-160, or NASA/ESA flight hardware standards
Company
Wardstone (YC F25)
Wardstone is a space defense-tech company developing next-generation capabilities to protect the United States and its allies from missiles and other space-based threats.
Founded in 2025
2-10 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Early StageTotal Funding
$0.5MKey Investors
Y Combinator
2025-12-03Pre Seed· $0.5M
Leadership Team
Sebastian Fischer
Chief Executive Officer
Tobias Fischer
Chief Technical Officer
Company data provided by crunchbase