Senior Electrical Engineer/Control Systems Engineer

Applied Energetics, Inc.; Tucson (AZ); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Equity participation

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

Applied Energetics, Inc. is seeking a Senior Electrical Engineer to design and integrate advanced beam directors and optical control systems for ultrashort-pulse directed energy platforms. You will work across disciplines to realize scalable, high-performance systems that protect national security.

The role emphasizes hardware development, real-time control, and robust documentation within a multidisciplinary team, advancing defense technology and innovation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 5+ years of electrical engineering experience.
• Experience designing, testing, and optimizing control electronics.
• Proficient with simulation and design tools such as Altium, PADS, OrCAD, LTspice, COMSOL, SIMULINK.
• Knowledge of communication protocols and hardware interfaces: SPI, UART, CAN, USB, Ethernet, I2C.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and development of custom electronics for precision operation and safety of directed energy systems.
• Design and layout custom PCBs and coordinate prototyping and production-ready parts.
• Collaborate with software engineers to implement hardware for embedded real-time control algorithms.
• Test and debug electronic systems within integrated laser and beam director platforms.
• Create and maintain system hardware specifications, block diagrams, and schematics.

Skills

Control electronics

Embedded systems

Circuit design

Test and debug

Analytical thinking

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Altium

PADS

OrCAD

LTspice

COMSOL

SIMULINK

Job description

About Applied Energetics

Applied Energetics is redefining the state of the art in ultrashort pulse laser and directed energy technologies for defense and national security applications. Guided by our vision, "Directed Energy, Anywhere", we build compact, high-performance systems that protect the warfighter and enable decisive advantages across the modern battlespace.

Why This Role Matters

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Electrical Engineer, to play a key role in the design, development, testing, and integration of advanced beam directors and optical control systems with the lasers that power our next generation directed energy systems. In this role you will be part of our multidisciplinary engineering team executing our mission by pioneering scalable ultrashort pulse directed energy solutions that defend and secure our nation's future.

What You'll Do

• Lead the design and development of custom electronics that enable precision operation, safety, and real-time responsiveness of our directed energy systems, including advanced fiber and solid-state lasers and beam directors and sub-systems.
• Design and layout custom printed circuit boards and work with vendors to procure prototypes as well as production-ready parts.
• Collaborate with software engineers to develop and implement the hardware to run embedded and real-time control algorithms for essential system functions such as laser stabilization, pulse timing, beam steering, motion control, and sensor feedback.
• Test and debug electronic systems to ensure proper operation within the integrated laser and beam director platform.
• Create and maintain appropriate documentation such as system hardware specifications, block diagrams, and schematics.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• 5+ years' experience in electrical engineering or a closely related discipline.
• Demonstrated ability designing, testing, and optimizing control electronics for complex integrated systems.
• Experience with software tools used for simulation, circuit design, and layout such as Altium, PADS, OrCAD, LTspice, COMSOL, SIMULINK, etc.
• Knowledge and experience of communication protocols and hardware interfaces such as SPI, UART, CAN, USB, ethernet, I2C, etc.
• Strong hands-on experimental skills.
• Innovative thinking with solid analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills and the ability to translate and explain complex ideas to non-experts.
• The ability to work cooperatively in a multidisciplinary team collaborating closely with mechanical, optical, software, and systems engineers to ensure the team's success.
• Demonstrate AE's core values of Trust, Innovation, Quality, Agility, and Bold Leadership.
• S. Citizenship with the ability to obtain and maintain a DoW security clearance.

Preferred Qualification

• Experience designing electronic controls for lasers and other optical devices and systems.
• Experience with FPGA design and test.
• Experience working in DoW or aerospace systems development environments.

Why Join Applied Energetics?

• Work on breakthrough directed energy systems at the frontier of defense innovation.
• Help shape next-generation beam directors and optical architectures for critical DoW missions.
• Collaborate with a world-class team pushing the limits of laser science and engineering.
• Competitive salary, equity participation, and comprehensive benefits.

Applied Energetics is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age (40 or older), disability, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. This policy applies to all employment decisions, including recruitment, hiring, promotion, compensation, benefits, training, and termination.

We comply with all applicable federal and state employment laws prohibiting discrimination and will administer all personnel actions in a nondiscriminatory manner.