Principal Electrical Engineer

Denver · Santa Monica · USD 170,000-250,000 · 5+ years experience · Full-time · Onsite · Posted Sep 30, 2026

At a glance

The Principal Electrical Engineer will define and lead the electrical architecture for a first-of-its-kind airborne augmented reality system.
This role involves taking hardware from initial requirements through prototype, qualification, and manufacturing to flight.
The engineer will mentor staff and establish standards for an electrical engineering group within a growing startup.

Design a technically challenging electrical architecture from a blank page.
Lead the creation of next-generation real-time hardware for airborne augmented reality.
Manage the full hardware lifecycle from requirements to flight.
Perform qualification to MIL-STD-461 and MIL-STD-810 standards.
Innovate, run trade studies, and prototype design options.
Shape program proposals, budgets, and schedules.
Collaborate with systems, optics, software, and flight test teams.
Mentor engineers and build standards and best practices for the EE group.

BS in Electrical Engineering or a related technical field.
12+ years developing complex electrical systems for aerospace, defense, or high-reliability applications.
5+ years leading electrical architecture for complex airborne or mission-critical systems.
Deep expertise in subsystem electrical architecture, mission systems integration, and real-time embedded hardware.
Hands-on experience defining electrical interfaces, power architectures, integration strategies, PCBA, and flex circuit designs.
Track record designing to MIL-STD-461 (EMI/EMC) and MIL-STD-810 (environments).
Experience leading trade studies, architecture reviews, and multidisciplinary teams.
Comfort in the lab with oscilloscopes, power supplies, and spectrum analyzers.
U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret clearance.

Hands-on military flight hardware development experience.
MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering.
Experience with FPGAs, SoCs, SOMs, GPUs, displays, sensors, and test systems.
PCBA design and simulation experience with Altium.
High-speed design experience with DDR3/DDR4, PCIe 3.0/4.0, DisplayPort, USB 3.0, Ethernet, VPX, and rugged computing systems.
Knowledge of avionics protocols like MIL-STD-1553, ARINC 429, or CAN.
Systems engineering ISO/IEEE 15288 and product development lifecycles experience.

Healthcare, Dental, and Vision (100% coverage for Employees)
Paid time off (vacation, sick, paid holidays, and parental leave)
Short and Long-Term Disability
Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
401(k) Retirement Plan
Voluntary Worksite Benefits (Accident, Critical Illness, and Hospital Indemnity)
Discretionary annual bonus