Safran

Laser Sensing Systems Principal Engineer

Safran • $180K — $240K *
Camarillo, CA 93010In-Person
Aerospace & Defense
8 - 10 years of experience
Today
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Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Optical Engineering, or closely related discipline.
  • 10-15+ years of hands-on engineering experience in defense or industrial electro-optical systems development, ideally at small-to-mid-size companies.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills for technical proposals and customer presentations.
  • Demonstrated ownership over the entire development lifecycle, from concept to production support.
  • Direct experience as technical lead with defense primes or government laboratories.
  • Extensive development and integration experience with laser sensing systems and related technologies.
  • Strong knowledge of signal processing and laser safety standards.

Responsibilities

  • Serve as the technical authority for laser sensing product design and risk management.
  • Lead the design, integration, and testing of complex electro-optical systems.
  • Provide hands-on engineering support, including hardware assembly and troubleshooting.
  • Translate customer needs into system-level solutions across multiple disciplines.
  • Drive resolution of complex technical issues and oversee key design reviews.
  • Engage with customers for proposals and business development efforts as a technical lead.
  • Mentor engineers and promote best practices for organizational technical growth.

Benefits

  • Supportive environment for hands-on engineering involvement.
  • Opportunities for mentorship and personal development in technical leadership.
  • Engagement with cutting-edge EO/IR technology advancement.
  • A culture that values technical authority and multi-disciplinary approach.
  • Involvement in business development with potential for impactful contributions.
Full Job Description
Safran DSI Business Unit: Attollo Engineering

POSITION PROFILE:

The Laser Sensing Systems Principal Engineer is a high-impact individual contributor role carrying broad technical authority across Attollo's laser sensing product line and adjacent EO/IR technology development. This is not a management role; it is a technical leadership role for an engineer who solves hard problems, mentors teams, engages customers, and gets their hands on hardware. Approximately 40% of the role is external facing (customer engagement, proposals, capture support); 60% is internal (design reviews, lab troubleshooting, mentorship, technical direction).

RESPONSIBILITIES:
  • Serve as the technical authority for laser sensing products, guiding system design, quality, and technical risk decisions.
  • Lead the design, integration, testing, and troubleshooting of complex electro-optical systems.
  • Provide hands-on engineering support, including hardware assembly, system integration, and laboratory troubleshooting.
  • Translate customer requirements into system-level solutions across optical, electrical, mechanical, firmware, and software disciplines.
  • Drive resolution of complex technical challenges and lead key design and technical reviews.
  • Serve as a technical lead with customers, supporting proposals, business development efforts, and industry engagements.
  • Mentor engineers, promote engineering best practices, and strengthen organizational technical capabilities.
  • Identify and evaluate new technologies and lead product development from concept through prototyping.
  • Align product strategy with program execution to support customer success and business growth.
  • Perform other duties as assigned


WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL:
  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Optical Engineering, Engineering Physics, or closely related technical discipline.
  • 10-15+ years of progressive, hands-on engineering experience in defense or industrial electro-optical systems development; significant time at small-to-mid-size companies where wearing multiple hats was expected.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills - comfortable authoring technical proposal sections, leading customer-facing reviews, and presenting to mixed technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Demonstrated full development lifecycle ownership: concept and requirements through design, integration, qualification, production support, and field issues.
  • Direct experience as technical lead or POC with defense primes, mid-tier integrators, and/or government laboratory customers.
  • Extensive experience developing and integrating laser sensing systems, including rangefinders, LIDAR, optical proximity sensors, and related electro-optical technologies.
  • Strong knowledge of laser sources, optical receivers, detector technologies, signal processing, and laser safety standards.
  • Familiarity with engineering tools standard to EO/IR systems development (simulation, signal analysis, or design review tools as applicable to the role).
  • Working expertise in supporting electronics, including analog circuitry, high-speed timing, FPGA-based processing, and system-level troubleshooting.
  • Proven ability to define, manage, and negotiate complex system requirements across optical, electrical, mechanical, and environmental domains.
  • Strong understanding of IR imaging systems, sensor architectures, image processing, and defense imaging applications.
  • Experience with industry-standard sensor interfaces and communication protocols, including SPI, I²C, UART, Ethernet, CameraLink, and MIL-STD-1553.
  • Solid foundation in optical design principles and the ability to evaluate system performance and design trade-offs.
  • Knowledge of environmental qualification standards and regulatory requirements applicable to defense and aerospace systems, including MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-461, and ITAR/EAR.
  • Current or ability to obtain US DoD Secret Security Clearance
  • Requires U.S. Citizenship required.


IDEALLY, YOU'LL ALSO HAVE:
  • Master's degree or PhD in a related discipline.
  • Active US DoD Security Clearance
  • Direct experience with handheld target locator modules, laser target designators, fire control systems, guided munition seekers, or proximity fuzing.
  • Experience leading or contributing to SBIR/STTR or other government R&D proposals.
  • Experience with time-of-flight or signal processing architectures.
  • Direct experience with laser safety classification, eye-safety analysis, and certification.
  • Experience working in an ITAR environment


SALARY RANGE: $180,000-$240,000 annual salary, plus participation in management performance bonus plan.

About Safran

Safran is a French multinational aerospace and defense company. It designs, manufactures, and sells aircraft engines, rocket engines, and other aerospace components. Safran is also involved in the defense industry, producing optronics, avionics, and other defense systems. The company has partnerships with several other aerospace and defense companies, including General Electric and Boeing. Safran has operations in over 60 countries and employs over 95,000 people.
Learn more about Safran
Size
95,000 employees
Industry
Aerospace & Defense
* Ladders Estimates

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