ZipRecruiter

Log In

1

Payload Integration Engineer Jobs in El Segundo, CA

previous pagenext page

Showing results 21-40

All JobsPayload Integration Engineer JobsPayload Integration Engineer Jobs in El Segundo, CA

Payload Integration Engineer information

See El Segundo, CA salary details

$47.4K

$132.4K

$184.8K

How much do payload integration engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 8, 2026, the average yearly pay for payload integration engineer in El Segundo, CA is $132,372.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $110,800.00 and $149,100.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a payload integration engineer?

Payload Integration Engineers are professionals responsible for ensuring that spacecraft payloads, such as satellites or scientific instruments, are properly designed, tested, and integrated with the launch vehicle. They coordinate between payload providers, launch vehicle teams, and mission planners to ensure compatibility and safe installation. Their work includes overseeing mechanical, electrical, and thermal interfaces, performing integration tests, and troubleshooting any issues that arise during the process. These engineers play a crucial role in successful space missions by ensuring payloads are delivered to orbit safely and efficiently.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a payload integration engineer?

To thrive as a Payload Integration Engineer, you need a solid background in aerospace or mechanical engineering, experience with systems integration, and a relevant engineering degree. Familiarity with CAD software, simulation tools, and industry standards such as NASA or ESA requirements, as well as certifications like EIT or PE, are often required. Strong problem-solving abilities, attention to detail, and effective collaboration and communication skills set top candidates apart. These competencies ensure that complex payloads are integrated safely and efficiently, meeting mission requirements and minimizing risks.

What are some common challenges payload integration engineers face when coordinating with multiple teams during a satellite launch campaign?

Payload Integration Engineers frequently collaborate with cross-functional teams, including spacecraft engineering, mission operations, and launch providers. A common challenge is ensuring all payload requirements are met while aligning schedules and technical specifications across these groups. Effective communication and strong organizational skills are essential to anticipate and resolve integration issues, manage last-minute changes, and ensure safety and mission objectives are upheld. Successfully overcoming these challenges not only ensures a smooth launch but also fosters valuable experience in multidisciplinary teamwork.
What job categories do people searching Payload Integration Engineer jobs in El Segundo, CA look for? The top searched job categories for Payload Integration Engineer jobs in El Segundo, CA are:
What cities near El Segundo, CA are hiring for Payload Integration Engineer jobs? Cities near El Segundo, CA with the most Payload Integration Engineer job openings:
Payload Integration Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Payload Integration Engineer job openings in El Segundo, CA as of June 2026, with employment types broken down into 70% Full Time, 13% Part Time, and 17% Contract. Highlights an 89% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 8% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $132,372 per year, or $63.6 per hour.

Mission Systems Integration Engineer

Odys Aviation

Long Beach, CA • On-site

$175K/yr

Full-time

Re-posted 20 days ago

Job description

About Odys
Our mission at Odys is simple - we build safe, sustainable aircraft to cut travel time in half on the world's busiest corridors. Our flagship aircraft Alta enables travelers to skip the big-airport hassle by using city helipads and local airports to connect cities less than 1,000 miles apart (approx 40% of flights). And on average cut CO2 by 76% on tens of billions of flight miles globally.
To get there, we start with our UAV called Laila for commercial logistics, medical transport, humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and defense missions. We're deploying aircraft with launch partners (Fiji Airways, Honeywell, Aramex, US Navy) beginning in 2026 and already have firm orders for aircraft under contract.
We're a team of expert engineers from deep tech and aerospace that focus on fast iterations loops (completed transition flight faster than our peers) combined with mastery of the aircraft certification process. Previously, our team developed custom drones, brought multiple automotive platforms into production, and electrified transportation vehicles that magnetically levitate, that roll, that fly. Together, we've been learning, developing, building, testing, and preparing for this challenge our entire lives.
About The Role
Are you passionate about integrating, testing, and validating the systems that make advanced unmanned aircraft fly autonomously and reliably? Do you thrive at the intersection of complex system integration, verification & validation, and real-time test campaigns? Join our engineering team as a Mission Systems Integration & Test Engineer.
Laila isn't a single fixed configuration - it's a platform that carries many different mission-specific payloads (EO/IR sensors, cargo and delivery systems, medical transport, communications relays, ISR and defense packages, and more).
A central part of this role is integrating those diverse payloads onto the aircraft so each mission configuration flies safely and performs as intended. You'll integrate and validate our on-board and ground system architectures - ensuring robust command & control, payload integration and management, and autonomous operations on Laila, our dual-use UAS platform, perform reliably as one cohesive system. You'll work closely with avionics, systems, payload, and GCS teams to deliver safe, reliable, certifiable, high-performance systems, and you'll be hands-on across payload-to-aircraft integration, system integration, SIL/HIL testing, field validation, and flight test campaigns - central to how payloads, navigation, and mission logic connect and perform together. You'll supplement this integration and test work with targeted software development where needed to close gaps and enable validation
Responsibilities
Payload-to-Aircraft Integration
  • Integrate diverse mission-specific payloads - EO/IR and vision sensors, cargo/delivery mechanisms, medical transport modules, communications relays, ISR and defense packages onto the aircraft as safe, reliable, mission-ready configurations.
  • Define and validate the mechanical, electrical, power, data, and software interfaces between payloads and the airframe, and capture them in payload ICDs.
  • Establish reusable, modular payload integration patterns so new payloads can be brought onto the platform quickly and repeatably.
  • Verify payload command, control, and data flow through the autopilot, onboard compute, and GCS across each mission configuration.
  • Characterize the impact of payloads on aircraft-level behavior (power budgets, EMI/EMC, weight & balance, thermal, latency) and drive resolution of integration issues.

System, Avionics & GCS Integration
  • Integrate avionics, sensors, and payloads into a cohesive onboard system - including autopilot, navigation, vision, electrical, mechanical, and power management components.
  • Own the integration between airborne systems and the Ground Control Station (GCS), enabling robust telemetry, video, payload control, and C2 links.
  • Integrate real-time communication and streaming protocols across subsystems (e.g., MAVLink, Ethernet, CAN, RTSP, UDP, or proprietary links).
  • Bring up and integrate flight control, mission logic, communication links, and payload interfaces into a validated end-to-end system.

Test, Verification & Validation
  • Lead software-hardware integration, debugging, and validation using SIL/HIL test setups and during ground or flight test campaigns.
  • Plan, execute, and document payload and system integration and test campaigns, verifying each mission configuration end-to-end and driving issues to closure.
  • Develop automated test environments and contribute to CI/CD workflows for verification and regression testing.
  • Analyze flight logs and system data to characterize system performance and identify integration and optimization opportunities.

Systems Engineering & Safety
  • Support requirements definition, ICD documentation, and traceability for integration, verification, and validation tasks in collaboration with system engineering.
  • Collaborate with avionics and systems teams to verify compliance with redundancy, fault tolerance, and safety design principles.
  • Participate in software and system reviews, interface discussions, integration planning, and verification & validation activities across hardware and software domains.

Supporting Software Development
  • Develop and maintain embedded and application-level scripts, test harnesses, and tooling that enable integration and validation of UAS subsystems.
  • Contribute to onboard autonomy, sensing, detection, and vision-based navigation features as needed to support integration and test objectives.

Required Qualifications
  • Degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronic, Aerospace, or Systems Engineering (or equivalent).
  • 2+ years of experience in system integration, test, or verification & validation for UASs, eVTOLs, or other embedded aerospace/robotics systems.
  • Hands-on experience integrating payloads and avionics subsystems onto a vehicle or platform sensors, controllers, actuators, communications, and data links - including their mechanical, electrical, power, and data interfaces.
  • Experience with SIL/HIL test setups, ground/flight test campaigns, and real-time debugging of integrated hardware/software systems.
  • Strong understanding of hardware/software interaction and real-time debugging on SoMs such as NVIDIA Jetson or NXP iMX.
  • Working proficiency in C/C++ and Python sufficient to build test tooling, harnesses, and support integration efforts.
  • Strong experience with Linux (embedded and desktop) and middleware for robotic or avionics applications.
  • Excellent teamwork and communication skills across mechanical, electrical, and software domains.

Preferred Qualifications
  • Experience integrating multiple interchangeable or modular payloads onto a shared platform (e.g., EO/IR gimbals, cargo/delivery systems, comms relays, ISR packages).
  • Experience with payload interface standards and considerations such as weight & balance, power budgeting, EMI/EMC, and thermal management.
  • Experience with simulation and HIL testing for UASs, avionics, or robotic systems.
  • Experience with software test & code analysis tools such as VectorCast, LDRA, Coverity, and Understand.
  • Experience with data communication protocols such as RS-232/422/485, CAN, ARINC 429, and MIL-STD-1553.
  • Experience with MAVLink, STANAG-4586, or similar command and telemetry protocols.
  • Experience with network protocols, network configuration, and analysis tools (e.g., Wireshark).
  • Experience with video/data streaming technologies (e.g., GStreamer, FFmpeg, OpenCV).
  • Background in flight-critical or safety-critical software development and verification (DO-178C or equivalent).
  • Knowledge of system safety, fault tolerance, and reliability methods such as FDIR or fail-safe redundant architectures. Experience with model-based development tools (Simulink, System Composer, Cameo, Capella, SCADE, UML, SysML, etc.).
  • Experience with RTOS, ROS/ROS2, or equivalent robotics frameworks.
  • Experience integrating GNSS, vision, or RF-based navigation systems.
  • Experience with SORA/SAIL frameworks and the EASA UAS regulatory environment.
  • Experience with DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, containerization (Docker), and Git-based workflows.
  • Exposure to modular avionics or networked flight control computer (FCC) architectures.
  • Experience with cybersecurity concepts, techniques, mitigations, and testing.
  • Experience in UAS autonomy, perception, and future GNSS-denied operations

Apply