Avionics Team Lead

About Exotrail

Born from a strong ambition to reach for the stars, Exotrail is a fast-growing scale-up founded in 2017. Its mission: to develop and commercialise propulsion systems for small satellites on a global scale.

We design products focused on impact, fast delivery, and continuous improvement. Inspired by the digital world, we are firmly customer-oriented and driven by an entrepreneurial spirit.

We manage risks to push boundaries and achieve results that would not be possible within a traditional space model.

We deploy every necessary resource to support the development of our products, whether in propulsion or in-orbit services. Strengthened by an innovative mindset inherited from our early days, we are preparing to grow into an ambitious industrial company.

Job Description

We are looking for a Avionics Team Lead at our Massy site, to support the rapid growth.

Attached to the Spaceware Engineering Team, you will be responsible for the technical leadership, operational management, and people development of the Avionics Engineering Department, covering both Hardware/Electronics Engineering and Embedded Software Engineering. The role ensures the design, development, integration, validation, and continuous improvement of embedded electronic and software systems that support the company's products, while meeting performance, quality, cost, and schedule objectives.

This role will be interacting with a variety of internal and external stakeholders.

Main responsibilities:

Team Management

Lead, coach, and develop the team. You may also participate in recruiting future team members.

Set objectives, conduct performance reviews, and support career development.

Foster technical excellence, collaboration between the teams, continuous improvement, innovation, and the sharing of knowledge.

Oversee team activities

Define team priorities based on project needs and development milestones

Ensure on-time, high-quality delivery of simulation activities within resource constraints.

Allocate resources and manage competing priorities across projects.

Technical Leadership

Act as the technical authority for Hardware Engineering and lead technical design reviews.

Review and validate major technical decisions and system architectures.

Ensure designs meet requirements (performance, reliability, manufacturability, cost efficiency)

Support teams in solving complex technical challenges.

Hardware Strategy

Drive improvements in simulation methods, automation and standardisation.

Develop multi-physics simulation capabilities across Structures, Thermal and CFD.

Evaluate and deploy new simulation tools and best practices.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Partner with Engineering, Systems, Design, Test, Industrialisation, Quality and Project Management teams, and represent the simulation organisation with customers and external partners when required.

Preferred Experience

Master's degree or PhD in Electronics, Embedded Systems, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field.

8-12+ years experience in electronic hardware design or embedded systems. Ideally both.

Proven experience managing technical engineering teams.

Experience in a complex industrial environment.

Solid understanding of embedded software architectures. Hands-on embedded software development experience is considered a strong advantage.

In-depth expertise in embedded software development is a significant advantage, but is not essential provided the candidate is able to effectively lead subject-matter experts and foster close collaboration between the hardware and software teams.

Technical Skills Required

Deep understanding Hardware: Electronic architecture, Analog & digital electronics, PCB design, Microcontrollers, FPGA (desirable), Communication buses (SPI, I²C, UART, CAN, Ethernet, USB), EMC/EMI, Electronic reliability, Hardware verification & qualification; And/Or Embedded Sofware: Embedded C/C++, RTOS, Software architecture, device drivers, communication protocols, software integration, configuration management.

Experience with one of several of the following tools: Altium Designer, Cadence OrCAD/Allegro, KiCad or equivalent, Laboratory equipment (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, etc.), Git, Jenkins, GitLab CI or equivalent, Jira, Azure DevOps or similar.

Knowledge of functional safety or aerospace standards such as IEC 61508, ISO 26262, DO-178C, DO-254, IEC 62304, or equivalent is ideal.

Soft Skills Required

Team leadership & development & decision making.

Clear communication both verbal and written.

Highly organised

Analytical, & result-oriented.

High degree of autonomy

This job description outlines a senior technical management role, the purpose of which is to ensure the performance of two teams of experts whilst guaranteeing optimal integration between hardware and software development. Expertise in electronics is an essential prerequisite, whilst a solid understanding of embedded software systems enables the successful candidate to effectively manage the interfaces between disciplines. Extensive experience in embedded software development is a distinguishing advantage, but success in this role depends above all on the ability to unite teams, make informed technical decisions and steer development efforts towards the company’s objectives.

About our recruitment process

We are committed to recruiting the right people for the right job regardless of your private background.

We meet at least three times in order to give you a better idea of what it's like to work at Exotrail:

1. Interview with our Talent Acquisition Manager: you will learn more about the position and our culture

2. Technical Interview with someone from the team: you will discover your work environment and learn more about the required qualifications

3. On-site interview with your future manager: to delve deeper into the position and expectations.

• Interview with the N+2 : you can make sure that you share the same vision and values of the company