About this opportunity
Hernshead Group lists this Electrical Engineer opportunity in sterling, Virginia. Review the employer’s description below for duties, qualifications and application requirements.
Job description
About this Position:
This is a rare chance for an early-career Electrical Engineer to work on autonomous aerial systems that fly in the stratosphere and support U.S. national security missions. Working alongside senior and staff EEs in a fast-moving, venture-backed defense tech team, you'll get hands-on exposure across the full electrical stack: power distribution, sensor integration, wiring harnesses, PCB design, and bench and field testing. You'll take designs from requirements to fab house, have the boards in your hands days later, and watch them fly weeks after that. This is an in-person role based in Northern Virginia, built for an engineer who wants breadth, ownership, and to see their work leave the lab and go to the field.
Job Responsibilities:
Turn product requirements into working hardware, designing, building, and testing PCBs under the guidance of senior engineers
Build and debug prototype circuits using soldering, pick-and-place, oscilloscopes, VNAs, spectrum analyzers, thermal imaging, and environmental chambers
Design wiring harnesses, select connectors, and route cabling inside complex aircraft and advanced platforms
Analyze and test RF links for throughput performance
Design and run tests across a range of systems and environments, from the bench to live flight tests
Support electrical integration with mechanical and software teams, including flight test instrumentation setup and post-test data collection
Conduct trade studies on state-of-the-art technologies and industry best practices
Maintain accurate schematics, BOMs, and design documentation, and support design reviews and component sourcing
Assist with failure analysis on field returns and learn to peer review other engineers' work
Help maintain test equipment, fixtures, and lab organization
Travel up to 25% to customer sites and field test locations, including austere and military operational environments
Experience Required:
Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or a related field
2 to 4 years of industry experience in electrical design, test, or integration
Working knowledge of analog and digital circuit fundamentals
Hands-on experience with PCB design tools such as Altium, KiCad, or equivalent
Comfortable working in a hands-on lab and bench environment
US Citizen with the ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance
Desirable: experience in aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability industries
Desirable: exposure to embedded systems or sensor integration
Desirable: startup or small-company experience and familiarity with relevant military standards
Worksite address
sterling, VA, 22170, US
Who can apply
Review the original listing for work authorization, qualifications and employer requirements.