Senior Principal Hardware Engineer - Defense Laser Systems

Aurelius Systems; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Equity

Health insurance

Travel opportunities

Daily lunches and snacks

Stipend for mobility

Job summary

Aurelius Systems in San Francisco is seeking a Principal Hardware Engineer to guide architecture and ship hardware from prototype to field deployment. You will lead by example across mechanical, electrical, power, embedded, and optics teams.

This is a technical leadership role, focusing on architecture, risk surfacing, and hands-on execution rather than people management, with close collaboration with founders and engineering leadership.

Qualifications

• 10+ years designing and shipping complex hardware systems.

Responsibilities

• Provide architectural direction across hardware stack from mechanical to embedded integration.
• Make technical decisions from concept through production readiness.
• Identify and surface risk early; mentor junior engineers by example.
• Hands-on execution when fast resolution is needed to move the program forward.
• Set design review standards and ensure high-quality documentation.

Skills

Hardware architecture

Senior systems engineering

Cross-disciplinary leadership

Real-world durability

Prototype to production

Job description

Aurelius Systems in San Francisco is seeking a Principal Hardware Engineer to guide architecture and ship hardware from prototype to field deployment. You will lead by example across mechanical, electrical, power, embedded, and optics teams.

This is a technical leadership role, focusing on architecture, risk surfacing, and hands-on execution rather than people management, with close collaboration with founders and engineering leadership.