Sr. HIL Engineer
Xona is the navigational intelligence company bringing real-time, centimeter-level certainty to any device, anywhere on Earth.
With Pulsar – the world’s most advanced PNT satellite infrastructure in Low Earth Orbit – Xona will offer a future-proof, backwards-compatible global positioning system optimized for absolute precision, superior power, and robust protection.
As a Senior Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Engineer, you’ll be a primary contributor to the design, build-out, and operation of integrated spacecraft testbeds. You will connect flight hardware (or engineering models) to high-fidelity simulations and automated test infrastructure to validate flight software, avionics interfaces, fault management behaviors, and operational workflows end-to-end—well before launch. You will also own the HIL software stack that powers the testbed, ensuring it is maintainable, extensible, and trusted as a program-critical validation environment.
What You'll Do:
Orchestrate flight hardware, real-time simulation, command/telemetry, and automated tests.
Build avionics and instrumentation interfaces (RS-422/485, Ethernet, I2C/SPI, GPIO, DAQ, power systems).
Implement fault injection and emulation to validate FDIR and safe-mode behavior.
Deliver telemetry tooling (capture, decode, time-align, replay, analysis) for rapid debugging and regression insight.
Lead lab bring-up and reliability (wiring, timing/latency characterization, configuration baselines, provisioning, runbooks).
Run full-system validation campaigns (nominal and off-nominal scenarios), including performance and stress testing.
Define measurable acceptance criteria (timing budgets, throughput, fault response, recovery time objectives).
Verify interface compliance and generate integration evidence against ICDs.
Debug real-time system behavior (scheduler jitter, end-to-end latency, CPU/memory pressure under load).
Automate regression testing and reporting; integrate HIL into CI/CD where feasible.
Drive resolution of integration issues across software, hardware, simulation, and process.
Produce durable technical artifacts: HIL architecture docs, lab procedures, interface validation checklists, and test plans.
Required Qualifications
4+ years of experience in system integration, HIL/SIL environments, or embedded hardware/software validation.
Demonstrated ownership of a production-quality HIL or integrated testbed environment.
Strong experience designing and maintaining HIL software (test orchestration, interface layers, telemetry/command tooling, fault injection, reporting).
Practical expertise with embedded buses and lab instrumentation (RS-422/485, Ethernet, I2C/SPI, GPIO, power systems).
Solid understanding of real-time systems, timing, latency, scheduling, and resource constraints.
Proven experience executing full-system validation campaigns, including fault injection and performance characterization.
Strong documentation and cross-functional communication skills.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience supporting on-orbit operations, mission rehearsals, telemetry analysis, or anomaly investigations.
Background in aerospace or other mission-critical, safety-critical environments.
Familiarity with flight software frameworks (cFS, F’, TASTE) or similar architectures.
Experience integrating hardware test environments into CI/CD workflows.
For U.S. Roles: To comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States (i.e. Green Card holder), or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).
For U.K. Roles: To comply with U.K. regulations, this role requires Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks, and successful candidates must be eligible to obtain UK Security Clearance (SC).
For Canada Roles: Successful candidates must obtain and hold a security clearance at the reliability status level, and pass security assessment for the Canadian Controlled Goods Program (CGP) and ITAR.
We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.