---
title: 'Electrical Engineering Lead at Merlin Labs'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/electrical-engineering-lead-merlin-labs-boston-0kh9rcqt8xb0'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-07'
---

# Electrical Engineering Lead at Merlin Labs

- **Company:** Merlin Labs
- **Location:** Boston, MA
- **Compensation:** $165k–$215k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-21
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/merlinlabs/4ad52ddd-18e6-430b-bd27-6b2f2892509a

## Job description

About Merlin: Merlin (NASDAQ: MRLN) is a publicly traded aerospace and defense company building a non-human pilot to deliver full-stack autonomy for any aircraft from takeoff to touchdown. The Merlin Pilot autonomy system powers a growing range of aircraft and mission profiles and has been proven through hundreds of autonomous flights from Merlin's global flight test facilities, including Kerikeri, New Zealand; Quonset Point, Rhode Island; and soon, Bedford, Massachusetts. Headquartered in Boston, Merlin is expanding its organization to accelerate the development and deployment of its autonomy platform, helping customers solve some of aviation's most pressing challenges, from pilot shortages to improving flight safety. Backed by some of the world's leading investors prior to its public listing, Merlin continues to advance the certification and commercialization of autonomous flight across commercial and defense aviation.

Who you are: Are you an experienced electrical engineering leader who is passionate about building and guiding teams developing systems at the forefront of aviation technology? Do you thrive at the intersection of deep technical work and people leadership — equally comfortable setting technical direction at the whiteboard and rolling up your sleeves in the lab? Would you like to shape the engineering culture, processes, and technical direction for a new class of aircraft autonomy products? If so, you might be a good fit for the Electrical Engineering Manager / Lead role here at Merlin Labs.

Responsibilities:

- Lead, mentor, and grow a team of electrical engineers responsible for the electrical architecture of our aircraft autonomy system, including power distribution, communications, computing, electro-mechanical systems, control systems, and user interfaces.
- Own technical planning and execution for the electrical engineering function: define priorities, allocate resources, manage schedules, and balance competing demands across aircraft programs.
- Establish and continuously improve engineering processes, design standards, and review practices to ensure robust, certifiable designs delivered on agile timelines.
- Guide architectural decisions and design trade studies, providing technical oversight for the integration and verification of Commercial/Modified-Off-the-Shelf (COTS/MOTS) electronic subsystems.
- Review and approve electrical design and fabrication drawings, test plans and reports, and associated aircraft installation and certification documents.
- Partner with cross-functional leaders in software, systems, mechanical, certification, and flight test to align electrical engineering deliverables with program milestones.
- Recruit, hire, and onboard electrical engineers; conduct performance reviews, support career development, and foster an inclusive, high-performing team culture.
- Serve as the escalation point for technical issues in lab, field, and aircraft settings, and coordinate support for installation technicians.
- Act as the senior technical lead for the electrical discipline: personally own complex or highest-risk design problems, including power distribution architecture, signal integrity, and EMI/EMC challenges.
- Contribute hands-on to design work as needed — creating and releasing schematics, wiring diagrams, and interface control documents alongside the team, particularly during critical program phases.
- Lead root-cause investigations for electrical anomalies discovered during integration, ground test, and flight test, driving corrective actions to closure.
- Set the technical roadmap for the electrical discipline, including tooling, component standards, and reuse strategies that scale across future aircraft platforms.
- This position may require up to 25% travel, sometimes with short notice, to both domestic and international locations to support aircraft and system integration activities.

Qualifications:

- BS in Electronics, Electrical, or Aerospace Engineering; MS preferred.
- 8+ years of relevant systems-level electrical design and integration experience in the aviation and aerospace industries.
- 2+ years of direct people management experience, or demonstrated technical leadership (tech lead, project lead) with responsibility for team deliverables and mentorship.
- Deep experience integrating and debugging systems containing COTS/MOTS modules, custom circuits, software, sensors, and human/machine interfaces.
- Working knowledge of standard interface protocols such as Ethernet, ARINC 429, RS-232, RS-422, and RS-485, sufficient to guide design reviews and resolve integration issues.
- Strong command of system schematics, wiring diagrams, and subsystem block diagrams, with the ability to critically review the work of others.
- Experience with aviation/aerospace wire harness design, connector selection, and sourcing, including managing supplier relationships and lead times.
- Demonstrated ability to plan and manage engineering schedules, budgets, and resource allocation across multiple concurrent projects.
- Outstanding organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
- Excellent written, verbal, and presentation communication skills, including experience presenting to executive leadership and external partners or regulators.

Nice to Have:

- Specific experience with aircraft systems including avionics, communications, and power distribution and management systems.
- Working knowledge of environmental qualification and regulatory requirements for commercial and military aircraft. Specifically: RTCA DO-160, DO-178, DO-254, MIL-STD-461, and MIL-STD-810.
- Experience leading teams through aircraft certification programs (e.g., FAA Part 23/25, STC efforts) and interfacing with certification authorities or DERs.
- Hands-on capability in lab, field, and aircraft settings; comfortable diving in alongside the team when needed (soldering, wiring, crimping, cable assembly build and test).
- Familiarity with design tools such as SolidWorks, Altium, or KiCAD, sufficient to review designs and set tooling standards.
- Experience scaling an engineering team in a startup or fast-growth environment.

## About Merlin Labs

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Merlin Labs is a U.S.-based developer of takeoff-to-touchdown autonomy software for military and civil aircraft, building the operating system of record for autonomous flight.
- **Entity Type**: Public (Nasdaq: MRLN) – went public via SPAC merger with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp IV in 2026.
- **Headquarters**: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- **Founded**: 2019
- **Founders**: Matthew George (CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Aerospace & Defense, Autonomous Aviation, AI Software
- **Target customers**: Military (U.S. Special Operations Command, Air Force), civil aviation operators, aircraft OEMs
- **Mission**: To provide safe, reliable autonomy that extends the capabilities of existing fleets and unlocks next-generation missions, forging the next 100 years of American aviation.

## Products & Services
- **[Merlin Pilot](https://merlinlabs.com/)**: An aircraft-agnostic, AI-powered software platform for autonomous flight from takeoff to touchdown. Designed to adapt to any plane in operation today and in the future.
- **[Condor](https://merlinlabs.com/)**: A product family for large, multi-crew aircraft, announced in 2026, targeting high-capacity military and cargo platforms.
- **Prime Contract with USSOCOM**: Merlin is partnering with U.S. Special Operations Command to bring autonomy to the C-130J fleet, extending operational range for high-frequency routes.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed as of the latest filings. Total cumulative funding (including IPO) is **$704.3M**.
- **Key Metric**: **Revenue** – $2.194M in Q2 FY2026 (quarter ended June 30, 2026) per SEC 10-Q filing. The company is still in high-growth, pre-profit stage (Net Income: -$58.4M in Q2). **Employees** – 145 as of mid-2026, growing 26.7% YoY.
- **Notable Investors / Partners**: First Round Capital (seed lead), Inflection Point Acquisition Corp IV (SPAC sponsor), U.S. Special Operations Command (customer/partner), Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (regulatory partner).
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Over 100 hours of autonomous flight across test facilities in the U.S. and New Zealand.
  - Completed Critical Design Review for the C-130J program with USSOCOM.
  - Achieved Stage of Involvement 3 (SOI 3) from the New Zealand CAA for the Merlin Pilot’s Flight Control Computer and Automated Communication System.
  - First autonomous landing of a conventional fixed-wing aircraft at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (July 2026).
  - Acquired EpiSys Science (EpiSci) in 2024 to bolster AI/autonomy capabilities.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Aircraft-agnostic platform**: The Merlin Pilot is designed to work with any aircraft, reducing integration complexity for customers.
- **Proven autonomy**: Hundreds of hours of autonomous flight, including military-grade operations, de-risking adoption.
- **Regulatory leadership**: Early approvals from the New Zealand CAA (Part 146 Design Organization certificate, SOI 3) pave the way for commercial certification.
- **Prime military contracts**: Direct relationship with USSOCOM for the C-130J program provides a strong revenue and credibility anchor.
- **Talent density**: Engineers from top aerospace firms (Collins Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky, Aurora Flight Sciences) and a strong culture of safety and innovation.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale the C-130J program**: Move from CDR to production and deployment with USSOCOM.
- **Expand Condor product line**: Target large, multi-crew aircraft for both military and civil markets.
- **Achieve commercial certification**: Continue working with regulators (FAA, EASA, CAA) to certify the Merlin Pilot for commercial operations.
- **Grow government and defense contracts**: Leverage the public listing and existing relationships to win additional programs.
- **Hire aggressively**: Open roles in AI, autonomy software, systems engineering, program management, and business development (22 active openings as of Sept 2026).

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: “Breaking new ground at 10,000 ft” – collaborative, respectful, and tangible work that is “in use and progressing rapidly.” High morale driven by real-world impact.
- **Work Models**: Hybrid and on-site roles available. Primary locations: Boston, MA (HQ); North Kingstown, RI; Kerikeri, New Zealand; and Washington, DC.
- **Notable Perks**: Work on one of aviation’s hardest problems with a team that includes alumni from top aerospace and defense companies. Employees have delegated authority from the regulator to approve certain aircraft design changes, empowering engineers. The company prioritizes safety and partners with best-in-class aerospace players.
- **Engineering Culture**: Strong emphasis on AI, autonomy, and software engineering. The engineering team is 39% of the workforce, with senior and specialist roles heavily represented. Open roles include Staff Software Engineer (AI Foundation Model), Autonomy Software Engineer, and Lead AI Dataloop Engineer.

## Sources
1. [Merlin Labs – Company Page](https://merlinlabs.com/company/)
2. [Merlin Labs – Homepage](https://merlinlabs.com/)
3. [Merlin Labs – Careers Page](https://merlinlabs.com/careers/)
4. [Merlin Labs – Open Roles on Lever](https://jobs.lever.co/merlinlabs)
5. [Merlin Labs – LinkedIn Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/merlinlabs)
6. [SEC Filing – FY2026 Q2 10-Q](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0002028707) (via Apollo data reference)

## Other roles at Merlin Labs

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