Technical Project Lead

Seek Thermal; Santa Barbara (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Seek Thermal in Santa Barbara, CA, seeks a Technical Project Lead to own the technical critical path of new-product programs—coordinating design decisions, integrations, and verifications across electrical, mechanical, software/firmware, optics, and systems to bring LWIR imaging products from concept to production. The role reports to the SVP of Engineering.

This is not a remote position and requires hands-on leadership across multidisciplinary teams to ensure robust design outputs and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Software Engineering, Mechatronics, Physics, Optical Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of engineering experience with 2+ years owning the technical critical path of embedded hardware/software programs, with at least one shipped sensing or electro-optical product through production.
• U.S. Person as required by ITAR/EAR for export control.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical critical path of NPD programs through phase gates from concept to production release.
• Ensure design outputs and review materials are complete and defensible at every gate.
• Make and document technical trade-offs with cross-functional approval.
• Identify risks early and drive mitigation across the program.
• Assign engineering tasks and drive technical status with program management.
• Drive root-cause and corrective action when failures threaten milestones.
• Ensure PRD requirements are testable and verification defined before design gates.
• Provide SOWs/specifications for supplier engagements and represent engineering externally.

Skills

Embedded systems

RTOS debugging

Multicore SoC

I2C/SPI

MIPI CSI

HW/SW co-design

Technical judgment

Cross-functional coordination

Communication

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering or related field

Tools

Jira

SmartSheets

Job description

Technical Project Lead

Seek Thermal Santa Barbara, California, United States

About this position

Description: As a Technical Project Lead (TPL) at Seek Thermal, you will own the technical critical path of one or more new-product programs - the chain of design decisions, integrations, and verifications that determines whether the product works and ships. You will be accountable for design outputs, design reviews, and technical trade-offs - working alongside program management while coordinating engineering across electrical, mechanical, software/firmware, optics, and systems to bring LWIR thermal imaging products from concept through production. The Technical Project Lead will report directly to the SVP of Engineering.

This is not a remote Position

Responsibilities

• The Technical Project Lead will own the technical critical path of new product development (NPD) programs through phase gates (concept through DV, PV, and production release) - know at all times which technical task gates the program, and keep the multidisciplinary team focused on it.
• Ensure design outputs and design-review materials are complete and defensible at every gate, and provide the technical readiness signal for gate sign-off.
• Make and document technical trade-offs (e.g., image quality, runtime, cost, architecture), with cross-functional approval for scope and design changes.
• Identify technical risks early, assess their critical-path impact, and drive mitigation of technical exposure across the program.
• Assign engineering tasks, drive technical status at program meetings in step with program management, and own design documentation and approvals per Seek's design-control process.
• Drive root-cause and corrective action (8D) when sensor, manufacturing, or integration failures threaten a milestone
• Ensure PRD requirements are testable and verification is defined before design gates; pull hardware/software integration risks off the critical path early.
• Provide technical deliverables (SOWs, specifications) for supplier engagements and represent engineering with customers, change control boards, and leadership.

Skills Knowledge and Abilities

• The Technical Project Lead should possess hands-on embedded systems depth (e.g., RTOS debugging, multicore SoC/MPSoC platforms, I2C/SPI, MIPI CSI, hardware/software co-design) with independent technical judgment.
• Experience developing products under structured quality and development processes (e.g., functional safety, ASPICE, ISO 9001, or similar) within formal design controls.
• Fluency with phase-gate development, PRD/requirements management, DV/PV verification, 8D, RASIC, and planning tools (Jira, SmartSheets).
• Proven technical coordinator of distributed cross-functional teams and a clear communicator - holds a technical position, escalates cleanly, and commits once decided.
• Preferred: thermal/IR imaging (FPA/ROIC, NUC/AGC, LWIR optics), automotive qualification, semiconductor packaging/yield analysis, Agile/Scrum leadership.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Software Engineering, Mechatronics, Physics, Optical Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of engineering experience, including 2+ years owning the technical critical path of embedded hardware/software programs, with at least one shipped sensing or electro-optical product taken through production.
• Must be a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual) as required by ITAR/EAR export control regulations.