Senior Electrical Designer

Location: Ottawa, ON (100% on-site)

Working Hours: M-F 40 hours per week

Salary Expectation: $120-140k + benefits

Job Title: Senior Electrical Designer

The Opportunity

Our client is seeking a Senior Electrical Designer to lead the design, development, certification, and lifecycle support of advanced avionics systems for current and next-generation aircraft. This is a key technical position requiring deep expertise in aerospace electrical systems, embedded hardware design, and system integration to deliver certified, high-performance avionics solutions.

This is a full-time, on-site position based in our Ottawa, ON office, ensuring close collaboration with engineering, testing, and systems teams to support rapid development and integration cycles.

Key ResponsibilitiesDesign & Development

• Lead end-to-end avionics hardware design, including schematic capture, PCB layout, design reviews, board bring-up, debugging, and testing.
• Architect analog and digital circuits for embedded processors, sensors, RF interfaces, and communication subsystems (ARINC 429, CAN, RS-232/422, Ethernet, etc.).
• Develop and execute test strategies in collaboration with software and firmware teams.
• Apply advanced principles of signal integrity, power integrity, and EMI/EMC design.

Technical Leadership

• Provide mentorship, guidance, and technical direction to junior engineers and designers.
• Drive design decisions and best practices throughout the product lifecycle—from concept and prototyping to environmental testing and production release.
• Support certification efforts, including preparation of engineering documentation, compliance with DO-254 and RTCA/DO-160 standards, and adherence to design assurance levels (DALs).

Sustaining Engineering & Product Support

• Lead complex root cause investigations for field issues and product failures.
• Maintain and enhance legacy avionics hardware to ensure ongoing compliance with evolving standards.
• Develop and execute obsolescence management strategies, coordinating redesigns and component substitutions with supply chain and production teams.

Collaboration & Continuous Improvement

• Partner cross-functionally with software, systems, manufacturing, and certification teams to ensure design integrity and successful system integration.
• Collaborate directly with customers and suppliers to define and validate requirements.
• Champion continuous improvement initiatives in design methodology, documentation, and engineering toolsets.

What You BringRequired Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in Electrical Engineering.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in electrical hardware design, including 3+ years in avionics or aerospace environments.
• Proficiency with EDA tools such as Altium Designer, DxDesigner, or OrCAD.
• Strong hands-on experience in circuit simulation, prototyping, PCB assembly, and rework.
• Proficient in lab instrumentation (oscilloscopes, spectrum/network analyzers, signal generators).
• Working knowledge of IPC standards (IPC-A-610, J-STD-001, IPC-7711/7721).
• Excellent analytical, documentation, and reporting skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with RF system design or embedded system integration in aviation contexts.
• Background in electronics manufacturing and design for manufacturability (DFM) and design for test (DFT).
• Familiarity with software development or firmware validation practices (DO-178C exposure).
• Programming or scripting experience in C, Java, or Python.