Senior System Engineer

EnErgo Recruitment; Town of Montana (WI); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

EnErgo Recruitment seeks a Senior System Engineer to shape the physical and systemic architecture of autonomous subsea interceptor platforms (UUVs). You will lead a cross‑disciplinary team, turning high‑level requirements into operational reality in unforgiving maritime environments.

You will own budgets, oversee HITL validation, and guide testing campaigns from concept to water deployments, reporting to the Program Lead in a fast‑paced, ownership‑driven culture.

Qualifications

• Degree in Systems Engineering, Naval Architecture, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field.

Responsibilities

• Architecture Ownership: Serve as the focal technical authority for the vehicle's physical design across mechanical, hydrodynamic, and systems disciplines.
• System Budgets Management: Own physical performance margins; drive system‑level analyses for navigation, power, communications, drag, mass, and buoyancy budgets.

Skills

Systems‑level thinking

Field‑tested engineer

Decisive under constraints

Education

BSc / MSc in Systems Engineering or related

Job description

ABOUT THE COMPANY

We engineer systems that operate in some of the most unforgiving environments on the planet. We are pushing the boundaries of autonomous maritime technology, fast prototyping, and high-performance underwater platforms for defense and commercial applications.

Our culture is fast-paced, high-ownership, and focused on physical engineering reality over bureaucratic loops.

THE ROLE

We are looking for a Senior System Engineer to drive the physical and systemic architecture of our autonomous subsea interceptor platforms (UUVs).

Reporting directly to the Program Lead, you will form the core management team for the project. You will not just manage a team of engineers---you will be responsible for turning high-level requirements into operational reality. In the subsea domain, physics is unforgiving. You will dictate the compromises between payload, speed, and endurance, ruthlessly managing the margins that define mission success in extreme maritime environments.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Architecture Ownership: Serve as the focal technical authority for the vehicle's physical design, bridging mechanical, hydrodynamic, and systems engineering disciplines.
• System Budgets Management: Own physical performance margins with absolute authority. Drive system-level analyses and manage navigation, power, communications, drag, mass, and buoyancy budgets.
• Complex Systems Integration: Lead a multidisciplinary team through complex engineering challenges. Ensure seamless integration of high-voltage battery architectures, operational control loops, and sensor payloads into tightly constrained envelopes.
• Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) Validation: Drive the transition from digital models to physical testing, overseeing rigorous HITL testing and qualification logic before platforms hit the water.
• Test Campaigns & Upgrades: Hands‑on leadership during field test campaigns, live operations, and long‑term platform upgrade roadmaps.

WHO YOU ARE

• Systems‑Level Thinker: You understand that an autonomous vehicle is not just a collection of parts, but a tightly coupled physical system where every gram, watt, and contour matters.
• Field‑Tested Engineer: You have real battle scars from taking complex hardware platforms from the whiteboard all the way to real‑world operational deployment.
• Pragmatic & Decisive: You thrive when making hard trade‑offs under high physical constraints and enjoy seeing your decisions tested in actual ocean conditions.

REQUIREMENTS & QUALIFICATIONS

• Education: Degree (BSc / MSc) in Systems Engineering, Naval Architecture, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Vehicle Design Experience: Proven track record of leading the complete physical design and development cycle of complex vehicles (e.g., subsea platforms/UUVs, aerospace systems, motorsport chassis, or high-performance maritime craft).
• Practical & Operational Experience: Hands‑on assembly, integration, testing (AIT), and field operational experience. (Bonus points if you build vehicles or complex engineering projects as a personal passion!)
• Budget & Trade‑off Mastery: Demonstrated experience strictly managing mass, power, thermal, and aerodynamic/hydrodynamic drag budgets across competing technical sub‑teams.
• Constraint Management: Deep expertise in working with tight physical limitations (watertight integrity, thermal management in enclosed spaces, extreme shock & vibration).
• Nationality: Due to defense project requirements, candidate must hold EU or NATO‑country citizenship and be eligible for security clearance.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Competitive Salary: Commensurate with the high responsibility of owning total vehicle architecture.
• Equity / Stock Options: Direct ownership stake in the hardware and platforms you bring to life.
• On‑Site Collaboration: Work at our Valkenburg facility, where the design office sits directly adjacent to the prototyping floor.
• Real Authority: Full autonomy over technical budgets---you make the key engineering decisions that shape the vehicle.
• High‑Impact Environment: Flat hierarchies, rapid execution, and a passionate team building cutting‑edge maritime defense capabilities.