Senior Systems Engineer

Applied Energetics, Inc; Tucson (AZ); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Comprehensive benefits

Equity participation

Tuition/Loan reimbursement

Tuition/Loan reimbursement

Job summary

A leading technology company in Tucson, Arizona is seeking a highly skilled Senior Systems Engineer to lead the design and integration of advanced directed energy systems. This role involves technical authority over system lifecycle management, development of specifications, and ensuring compliance with safety and environmental requirements. The ideal candidate will have over 5 years of engineering experience, project management skills, and be a US citizen capable of obtaining a DoD security clearance. Competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits are offered.

Qualifications

• 5+ years' experience in systems engineering or related field.
• US Citizenship with the ability to obtain a DoD security clearance.
• Experience managing projects from R&D through production.
• Experience managing projects to deliver complex systems from R&D through product development and release to production.
• Experience guiding systems through environmental certifications such as MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-461, CE, ISO, RoHS, etc.
• Experience guiding products or systems through military or aerospace development lifecycles.
• US Citizenship with the ability to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and integration of systems.
• Develop test and verification plans to ensure system compliance.
• Communicate project progress to key stakeholders.
• Develop test and verification plans; ensure traceability to customer needs.
• Lead regular project meetings to track progress.
• Manage technical and project risks via DFMEA and risk activities.
• Communicate progress through internal and external reviews.
• Serve as liaison with stakeholders to maintain clear communication.
• Manage vendors, contract manufacturers, and integration partners.
• Establish document control for design drawings, BOMs, requirements, tests.
• Support material management for prototypes and low-rate production.
• Mentor junior engineers and define engineering best practices.

Skills

Project management

Team leadership

Problem-solving

Communication

Analytical skills

Education

Bachelor's or master's in engineering

Tools

Project management tools (Monday.com, MS Project)

Smartsheet

MS Project

FMEA

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 Systems 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

• Serve as the technical authority and project manager across the full system lifecycle from early definition of requirements through field testing and delivery.
• Lead efforts to develop the system definition and program scope for ultrashort pulse lasers systems and integrated directed energy platforms, translating operational needs into engineering specifications and testable metrics.
• Lead the multidisciplinary engineering team to develop, integrate, and test subsystems such as the laser sources, beam directors, opto-mechanical interfaces, and electrical and software components, ensuring that the design meets the overall mission, performance, environmental, and safety requirements.
• Develop test and verification plans to ensure the system meets customer, environmental, and safety specifications. Manage and maintain system performance specifications ensuring traceability from customer needs through final test and verification.
• Lead regular project meetings to track and communicate progress and enable the team to work together to overcome hurdles.
• Manage technical and project risks through DFMEA and other risk management activities.
• Communicate project progress to key stakeholders through regular internal engineering reviews and design reviews, and external customer reviews, etc.
• Serve as the primary liaison between key stakeholders ensuring clear communication is maintained throughout the project.
• Manage vendors, contract manufacturers, and integration partners.
• Establish document control processes for engineering and product documents such as design drawings, bills of materials, technical and customer requirements documents, testing and validation reports, etc.
• Establish and support material management through planning, scheduling, and supply chain analysis and management efforts for prototype builds and low rate initial production runs.
• Mentor junior engineers and help define engineering best practices as the team grows.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or masters in an engineering discipline or a related field.
• 5+ years' experience in systems engineering, technical project or program management or similar experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary teams to deliver on time and within budget, complex products and solutions that meet operational requirements.
• Experience managing projects to deliver complex systems from R&D through product development and release to production.
• Experience guiding systems through environmental certifications such as MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-461, CE, ISO, RoHS, etc.
• Experience guiding products or systems through military or aerospace development lifecycles.
• US Citizenship with the ability to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience with ultrashort pulse lasers and systems.
• Experience with directed energy systems and sub-systems.
• PMP, FAC-P/PM certification or equivalent.
• Experience working in DoD or aerospace systems development environments.

Your Toolkit

• Experience using project management tools such as Monday.com, Smartsheet, MS Project, etc.
• Strong team leadership skills in multidisciplinary engineering environments.
• Experience solving problems and improving processes using root cause and quality management tools such as fishbone, FMEA, 8D, etc.
• Innovative thinking with solid analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced engineering environment with evolving requirements.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills and the ability to translate and explain complex ideas to non-experts.
• The ability to work in a multidisciplinary team collaborating closely with optical, mechanical, electrical, software, and systems engineers.
• Demonstrate AE's core values of Trust, Innovation, Quality, Agility, and Bold Leadership.

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 DoD missions.
• Collaborate with a world-class team pushing the limits of laser science and engineering.
• Competitive salary, equity participation, and comprehensive benefits including Medical, Dental, and Vision, PTO, Federal Holidays, Personal Holidays, Tuition/Loan Reimbursement and others.

How to Apply

Please apply on our company website – Job Listings - Applied Energetics, Inc Jobs

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

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.