Electrical Engineer

About the company

Hop Aero is a venture-backed startup building the physical internet. Our mission is to enable resilient global logistics to protect and improve our way of life.

Hop Aero's founding team has founded aerospace companies, taken hardware to orbit, launched 20+ Falcon 9s at SpaceX, and led engineering across some of the world's most advanced aerospace programs. We are well-capitalized with strong venture backing and active government contracts.

We are a lean aerospace startup looking for an Electrical / Embedded Systems Engineer who is comfortable working across the full electronics development pipeline. This is not a narrow “stay in your lane” role. We need someone who can move between hardware, firmware, sensors, power systems, communications, test setups, wiring, prototyping, debugging, and system integration as needed.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on generalist: someone who has built real things, solved messy integration problems, and is comfortable learning unfamiliar tools or technologies quickly to get the job done.

Degrees, certifications, and grades are less important to us than demonstrated ability. We care most about projects, prototypes, systems you have built, and your ability to think through problems from concept to working hardware.

What You’ll Work On

You may be involved in designing, building, testing, and integrating electronics for aerospace systems, including:

• Embedded control systems
• Flight computers or vehicle control electronics
• Sensor systems and data acquisition
• Power distribution and power management
• Battery systems, regulators, relays, solenoids, valves, and actuator control
• RF communication systems and telemetry
• Wiring harnesses, connectors, grounding, shielding, and physical integration
• PCB design, board bring-up, and prototype electronics
• Firmware and software for microcontrollers, SBCs, FPGAs, or custom test hardware
• Ground support equipment, test stands, and lab automation
• Data transmission, logging, and real-time monitoring systems
• Debugging hardware/software problems at the system level

This role will likely involve both design work and hands-on build/testing work. You should be comfortable at a desk, at a bench, and around physical hardware.

We’re Looking For Someone Who

• Has a background in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Robotics Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering, Software Engineering with hardware experience, or a closely related field
• Ideally has at least a bachelor’s degree, though equivalent hands-on experience and strong project work can matter more
• Is comfortable being a generalist across electronics, embedded systems, controls, power, communications, and integration
• Has built real systems, not just completed coursework
• Can design from scratch, integrate commercial components, or modify existing systems to make something work
• Is comfortable soldering, wiring, testing, debugging, and building prototypes
• Can read datasheets, wiring diagrams, schematics, and technical documentation
• Can learn quickly when faced with unfamiliar components, tools, protocols, or design challenges
• Is willing to take ownership of ambiguous technical problems
• Can work in a lean startup environment where priorities shift and solutions need to be practical, not perfect
• Understands that aerospace hardware requires care, documentation, testing, and disciplined engineering judgment

Project Experience We Value

We are especially interested in candidates who have built or worked on projects such as:

• Custom flight computers
• Drones, UAVs, RC aircraft, RC cars, robots, or autonomous vehicles
• Sensor packages, telemetry systems, or data acquisition systems
• Custom PCB design and board bring-up
• FPGA projects
• Embedded Linux, Raspberry Pi, Jetson, Arduino, Teensy, STM32, ESP32, or similar platforms
• Motor control, actuator control, valve control, or relay control systems
• RF systems, radio telemetry, LoRa, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NRF24, HC-12, CC1101, or similar communication hardware
• Power systems, battery management, voltage regulation, current protection, or power distribution
• Wiring harnesses, connectorized systems, and physically integrated electronics
• Control loops, PID control, state machines, or basic real-time control systems
• Custom communication protocols or implementation of protocols such as UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, Ethernet, USB, or RS-485
• Low-level programming, assembly language, bootloaders, or custom hardware interfaces
• Test stands, lab automation, instrumentation, or hardware-in-the-loop systems

Personal projects, school projects, research projects, competition projects, open-source work, and independent builds all count. We would rather see a working prototype you built yourself than a perfect resume with no hands-on experience.

Useful Skills

You do not need to be an expert in all of these, but experience with several is valuable:

• Circuit design and electronics prototyping
• PCB design tools such as KiCad, Altium, Eagle, or similar
• Embedded C/C++, Python, or Rust
• Microcontrollers and single-board computers
• FPGA development using Verilog, VHDL, or related tools
• Sensor integration and calibration
• Analog and digital electronics
• Power electronics and power distribution
• Battery systems and voltage regulation
• RF communication and telemetry
• Wiring harness design and fabrication
• Soldering, crimping, connector assembly, and bench debugging
• Oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, multimeters, power supplies, and signal generators
• Control systems and basic robotics
• Data logging, telemetry dashboards, and test automation
• CAD awareness for packaging electronics into mechanical systems
• Aerospace, robotics, automotive, or high-reliability hardware development

Mindset

This role is best for someone who enjoys building things from the ground up. You should be the kind of person who can be given a rough objective, research what is needed, design a path forward, build a prototype, test it, break it, fix it, document it, and improve it.

We value people who are curious, practical, self-directed, and comfortable working through uncertainty. In a startup environment, there may not always be a perfect spec, a complete process, or someone who already knows the answer. We need someone who can figure things out while still being thoughtful, safe, and disciplined.

Nice to Have

• Aerospace, rocketry, drones, robotics, automotive, or defense-related experience
• Experience with flight hardware, test stands, telemetry, or vehicle electronics
• Experience working around pressurized systems, propulsion systems, or high-energy test environments
• Experience designing electronics for vibration, thermal, EMI/EMC, or harsh environments
• Experience with documentation, requirements, test plans, and failure analysis
• Experience taking hardware from prototype to more reliable production-ready designs

What to Submit

Please include:

• Resume or summary of experience
• Portfolio, GitHub, project photos, videos, writeups, or documentation
• Examples of systems you personally designed, built, programmed, wired, tested, or debugged
• A short explanation of one technical project you are proud of, including what you built, what went wrong, and how you solved it

We are not looking for someone who only knows theory. We are looking for someone who can build, test, troubleshoot, and learn quickly while helping develop real aerospace hardware.