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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Laser Sensing Systems Principal Engineer - **Company:** Safran Usa, Inc. - **Location:** Camarillo, CA, United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Salary:** $180,000.0 - $240,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Communications Protocols, Ethernet, Firmware, Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), Imaging Technology, Systems Development Life Cycle, Software Tools, Signal Processing, Software Requirements Analysis, Systems Integration, Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter, MIL-STD-810 Environmental Testing, Lidar - **Published:** July 2, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=494cd38383e55aba ## About the Role * Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Optical Engineering, Engineering Physics, or closely related technical discipline. * 10-15+ years of progressive, hands-on engineering experience in defense or industrial electro-optical systems development; significant time at small-to-mid-size companies where wearing multiple hats was expected. * Excellent written and verbal communication skills - comfortable authoring technical proposal sections, leading customer-facing reviews, and presenting to mixed technical and non-technical audiences. * Demonstrated full development lifecycle ownership: concept and requirements through design, integration, qualification, production support, and field issues. * Direct experience as technical lead or POC with defense primes, mid-tier integrators, and/or government laboratory customers. * Extensive experience developing and integrating laser sensing systems, including rangefinders, LIDAR, optical proximity sensors, and related electro-optical technologies. * Strong knowledge of laser sources, optical receivers, detector technologies, signal processing, and laser safety standards. * Familiarity with engineering tools standard to EO/IR systems development (simulation, signal analysis, or design review tools as applicable to the role). * Working expertise in supporting electronics, including analog circuitry, high-speed timing, FPGA-based processing, and system-level troubleshooting. * Proven ability to define, manage, and negotiate complex system requirements across optical, electrical, mechanical, and environmental domains. * Strong understanding of IR imaging systems, sensor architectures, image processing, and defense imaging applications. * Experience with industry-standard sensor interfaces and communication protocols, including SPI, I²C, UART, Ethernet, CameraLink, and MIL-STD-1553. * Solid foundation in optical design principles and the ability to evaluate system performance and design trade-offs. * Knowledge of environmental qualification standards and regulatory requirements applicable to defense and aerospace systems, including MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-461, and ITAR/EAR. * Current or ability to obtain US DoD Secret Security Clearance * Requires U.S. Citizenship required. IDEALLY, YOU'LL ALSO HAVE: * Master's degree or PhD in a related discipline. * Active US DoD Security Clearance * Direct experience with handheld target locator modules, laser target designators, fire control systems, guided munition seekers, or proximity fuzing. * Experience leading or contributing to SBIR/STTR or other government R&D proposals. * Experience with time-of-flight or signal processing architectures. * Direct experience with laser safety classification, eye-safety analysis, and certification. * Experience working in an ITAR environment ## Description The Laser Sensing Systems Principal Engineer is a high-impact individual contributor role carrying broad technical authority across Attollo's laser sensing product line and adjacent EO/IR technology development. This is not a management role; it is a technical leadership role for an engineer who solves hard problems, mentors teams, engages customers, and gets their hands on hardware. Approximately 40% of the role is external facing (customer engagement, proposals, capture support); 60% is internal (design reviews, lab troubleshooting, mentorship, technical direction)., * Serve as the technical authority for laser sensing products, guiding system design, quality, and technical risk decisions. * Lead the design, integration, testing, and troubleshooting of complex electro-optical systems. * Provide hands-on engineering support, including hardware assembly, system integration, and laboratory troubleshooting. * Translate customer requirements into system-level solutions across optical, electrical, mechanical, firmware, and software disciplines. * Drive resolution of complex technical challenges and lead key design and technical reviews. * Serve as a technical lead with customers, supporting proposals, business development efforts, and industry engagements. * Mentor engineers, promote engineering best practices, and strengthen organizational technical capabilities. * Identify and evaluate new technologies and lead product development from concept through prototyping. * Align product strategy with program execution to support customer success and business growth. * Perform other duties as assigned ## Related Videos - [The Gashlycrumb Tinies of AI Networking You Must Know (or Languish!)](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2067-the-gashlycrumb-tinies-of-ai-networking-you-must-know-or-languish) - [How to develop an autonomous car end-to-end: Robotic Drive and the mobility revolution](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/22-how-to-develop-an-autonomous-car-end-to-end-robotic-drive-and-the-mobility-revolution) - [Playing Pong on a shoulder press machine](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100140-playing-pong-on-a-shoulder-press-machine) - [Robots are coming into the wild! 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