Staff Systems Engineer
Costa Mesa · Costa Mesa, CA (OC-00) · USD 132,000-198,000 · 8+ years experience · Full-time · Posted Oct 14, 2026
At a glance
- Experience
- 8+ years experience
- Employment
- Full-time
- Location
- Costa Mesa · Costa Mesa, CA (OC-00)
- Salary
- USD 132,000-198,000 · Base salary
About the role
- The Staff Systems Engineer will lead the development of mission-critical counter-UAS systems at the tactical edge. This role involves serving as the technical authority for complex, multi-domain products that integrate optics, computer vision, embedded compute, and kinetic effectors.
Responsibilities
- Translate mission-level outcomes into coherent system architectures spanning optics, computer vision, electro-mechanical actuation, and laser subsystems.
- Lead cross-functional integration between mechanical, electrical, firmware, computer vision, and manufacturing teams.
- Reimagine system requirements through first-principles thinking to create robust, adaptable counter-UAS solutions.
- Define and manage the system-level error budget to meet first-round-hit accuracy requirements.
- Own the technical risk management process, ensuring systems meet military standards for shock, vibration, environmental, and EMI.
- Lead design reviews from requirements definition through verification and validation.
- Create systems architecture diagrams to align cross-domain teams on a single source of truth.
- Develop verification and validation plans, including lab, benchtop, and live-engagement test campaigns.
- Leverage modern systems engineering tools like MBSE and Digital Twins to visualize architectures and model performance.
- Travel to field exercises and customer events to provide training and gather feedback for technical design improvements.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, Physics, or a related technical discipline.
- 8+ years of systems engineering experience, preferably in rapid product development environments.
- Track record of delivering complex multi-domain electro-mechanical systems.
- Experience leading cross-functional teams to deliver against aggressive schedules.
- Hands-on prototyping, troubleshooting, and integration experience.
- Experience owning verification and validation across the full product lifecycle, including environmental qualification.
- Experience with modern systems engineering tools and methodologies such as MBSE and requirements management.
- Must be a U.S. Person due to export control requirements.
Preferred qualifications
- Experience with counter-UAS systems, air defense, precision tracking, fire control, or kinetic effector systems.
- Multi-domain product experience spanning electro-optics, lasers, actuators/servo control, or stabilized platforms.
- Background in robotics or autonomous systems.
- Familiarity with computer vision pipelines and their integration into embedded platforms.
- Experience with embedded compute platforms like Qualcomm Snapdragon or NVIDIA Jetson.
- Experience with system error budgeting across optical, mechanical, and algorithmic contributors.
- Experience bridging prototype-to-production transitions, including DFM/DFA and medium-volume manufacturing.
- Active DoD security clearance (Secret or above).
Benefits
- Comprehensive, competitive benefits package
- Highly competitive equity grants
Workplace
- Role is based in Costa Mesa, CA.
- Requires travel to field exercises and customer events.
Skills
- Systems Engineering
- MBSE
- Computer Vision
- Embedded Systems
- Electro-mechanical Actuation
- Laser Subsystems
- Optics
- CAD
- Flow
- Jama
- Cameo
- Digital Twins
Show all 14 skills
- Qualcomm Snapdragon
- NVIDIA Jetson
