Staff Avionics Systems Engineer

Role OverviewReax is hiring a Staff Avionics Systems Engineer to own the engineering of complete avionics systems from architecture through integration and test. This role exists to turn program intent into reliable, low-cost, flight-relevant hardware systems on extremely short timelines, where schedule, cost, reliability, regulatory path, and technical performance must be traded together rather than optimized in isolation.

The work will require pulling together COTS and custom components across RF, compute, data handling, sensing, power, wiring, and command-and-control interfaces; integrating those components into a larger aircraft or mission system; and producing architectures that are simple, inspectable, maintainable, and credible to internal engineering teams and external stakeholders.

Required Qualifications

• Demonstrated rapid delivery of low-cost, reliable avionics hardware systems in aerospace, defense, automotive, industrial, robotics, or another hardware-intensive environment where systems had to work outside a lab.
• Deep practical understanding of one or more avionics-relevant subsystems, such as command and data handling, RF communications, LOS/BLOS data links, embedded compute, power management, sensing, wire harnessing, or aircraft electrical integration.
• Ability to reason from first principles about system safety, reliability, latency, data integrity, RF performance, power behavior, and operational constraints rather than relying only on inherited requirements or standard approaches.
• Experience making technical trades across cost, schedule, reliability, maintainability, regulatory burden, and performance.

• Ability to work across disciplines without waiting for every interface, requirement, or organizational boundary to be fully defined.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated delivery of a simple, reliable, full-stack avionics hardware system integrating aerospace, industrial, automotive, telecom, or embedded hardware depending on the use case.

Reporting Structure and Scope

This role reports to the Founder and CEO and is based onsite in San Diego.

The engineer serves as the responsible engineer for the avionics subsystem. Responsibilities include defining the system, making trade decisions, coordinating with adjacent engineering functions, managing subsystem budget and schedule, and ensuring the delivered system meets program intent with confidence, polish, and maintainability. he role does not initially include direct reports but requires coordination with other engineers across the vehicle as well as management of vendors and subcontractors.

The position combines subsystem technical ownership with programmatic responsibility. The engineer is expected to develop the subsystem in a scrappy and iterative manner while maintaining the level of technical clarity, analytical rigor, and professionalism required to support internal decision-making and external customer confidence.