Electrical Engineer Internship Startup Jobs in California

Your Mission

As a Electrical Engineer at GITAI, you will own board-level electrical hardware design for spacecraft, robotic systems, and space defense programs, including interceptor-related systems.
This is a PCB design and avionics hardware role. It is not primarily an embedded software, firmware, or FPGA role. We are looking for someone who has personally designed real PCBs and taken them through fabrication, assembly, bring-up, and test. Your work will not stop at the board boundary. GITAI's hardware is tightly integrated across electrical, mechanical, firmware, software, and system-level constraints. You will work closely with mechanical engineers on packaging, mounting, connectors, harnessing, thermal paths, vibration constraints, and assembly sequence. You will work with firmware and software engineers on interfaces, bring-up, debugging, telemetry, fault handling, and test coverage.
You do not need to come from the space industry. Strong PCB designers from robotics, automotive, medical devices, industrial equipment, drones, defense, consumer hardware, or other hardware fields are welcome. Space-specific requirements can be learned after joining. What matters first is strong board-level design judgment and the ability to make hardware work inside a real system. GITAI is an early-stage hardware startup. Requirements will change, interfaces will move, and the clean answer on paper will often fail in integration. This role is for someone who can make practical trade-offs, communicate them clearly, and keep the hardware moving from design to build to test to flight-like operation.

What You'll Drive

• Own PCB design for avionics hardware used in spacecraft, robotic systems, and space defense programs, from early architecture through schematic, layout, fabrication release, assembly, bring-up, and test.
• Design schematics and PCB layouts in Altium or similar ECAD tools, including stackup definition, layout constraints, design rules, fabrication notes, assembly drawings, and release packages.
• Make practical board-level design trade-offs across electrical performance, manufacturability, reliability, thermal behavior, packaging, component availability, testability, schedule, and cost.
• Work closely with mechanical engineers on board shape, mounting, connector placement, harness routing, enclosure constraints, thermal paths, vibration constraints, and assembly sequence.
• Work closely with firmware and software engineers on interfaces, board bring-up, telemetry, debugging, fault handling, test coverage, and hardware/software integration.
• Collaborate with systems, propulsion, and manufacturing teams to ensure avionics hardware works inside the full vehicle or robotic system, not only as a standalone board.
• Apply DFM, DFA, and DFT principles early in the design process and work directly with PCB fabrication and assembly vendors to resolve manufacturing issues before and during builds.
• Select components with attention to electrical performance, lifecycle risk, lead time, procurement constraints, package size, thermal behavior, derating, and test access.
• Bring up and debug PCBAs using lab equipment, test fixtures, firmware tools, and system-level test setups.
• Support integration, environmental testing, field testing, and failure investigations by identifying root causes and driving design changes quickly.
• Create and maintain clear engineering documentation, including schematics, layout files, BOMs, fabrication packages, assembly notes, test plans, issue logs, and design review materials.
• Move hardware forward in an early-stage startup environment where requirements change, interfaces are not always clean, and practical judgment matters more than process.

What We're Looking For

• Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or a closely related hardware engineering field, or equivalent hands-on experience.
• 3+ years of hands-on PCB design experience using Altium or a similar ECAD tool.
• 1+ year of full-time experience at an early-stage hardware startup, ideally Seed to Series B, is required. Internship-only experience does not meet this requirement.
• Experience personally owning PCB designs from schematic capture through layout, fabrication release, assembly support, board bring-up, and test.
• Strong practical understanding of PCB fabrication and assembly, including stackups, layout constraints, fabrication notes, component placement, inspection, DFM/DFA/DFT, and vendor feedback.
• Ability to make and explain board-level design trade-offs across electrical performance, manufacturability, reliability, thermal behavior, packaging, component availability, testability, cost, and schedule.
• Experience working with mechanical, firmware, software, systems, and manufacturing teams to integrate electrical hardware into a real product or system.
• Hands-on experience debugging PCBAs using lab equipment such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power supplies, electronic loads, multimeters, and test fixtures.
• Experience with mixed-signal, power, high-speed digital, sensor, communication, motor-control, or other board-level hardware systems.
• Ability to communicate clearly, document decisions, and work through ambiguous hardware problems with urgency and discipline.
• U.S. citizenship required, as this role will support U.S. government space and defense programs and may require eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

Location & Employment Details

• Location: Torrance, CA (onsite). Travel to test sites (including Mojave and the greater Los Angeles area) is expected based on program needs.
• Employment Type: Full-Time, Exempt
• Compensation 
  
  • Base salary for this role is expexted to range from $125,000 to $160,000 per year.
  • Final compensation will be determined based on experience, skills, interview performance, and role fit. This position is also eligible for equity.
• Typical Work Hours: Monday to Friday, approximately 9:00am - 6:00pm (onsite). Flexibility is expected based on mission schedules and program needs.

Benefits

• Health Insurance - Platinum medical plan with 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees; 90% for dependents
• 401(k) Plan - Company match up to 3.5%, with traditional and Roth options
• Equity - Stock option eligibility depending on role
• Relocation Support - Available for qualifying positions
• Time Off - 12 paid holidays per year, 12 days of paid vacation per year, and paid sick leave (in accordance with applicable law)
• Office Perks - Free snacks and drinks, plus regular team events

No agency submissions, please.