Systems Engineer - Free-Space Optical Communication PayloadsDayton, OhioPosition OverviewWe are seeking a hands-on Systems Engineer to lead the definition, integration, and verification of free-space optical communication (FSOC) payloads for space, airborne, and ground-based platforms. This is a cross-disciplinary role at the seam where optics, electronics, mechanisms, and control software meet: you will own the electrical interfaces to opto-mechanical hardware, the acquisition/tracking/pointing (ATP) control loops that close the link, and the payload-to-platform interfaces that make the terminal a well-behaved guest on its host vehicle.
We are interested in a candidates who have built this type of payload before and those who have engineered comparable optical payloads - imagers, lidar, seekers, telescopes, directed-energy or precision pointing systems - and can carry those skills across. If you have driven a sensor or optical payload from requirements through integration and field or on-orbit performance, this role is a natural next step.
Key Responsibilities- Own payload-level system engineering for FSOC terminals: requirements decomposition from link budget and mission concept down to optical, electrical, mechanical, and software subsystem specifications, with traceability maintained through verification.
- Develop and specify the electronic interfaces to opto-mechanical elements - fast steering mirrors, gimbals, Risley prisms, focus and shutter mechanisms, TECs, and photodetectors - including drive electronics, sensor conditioning, encoder and position feedback, and the timing/synchronization architecture between them.
- Architect and implement acquisition, tracking, and pointing control systems: beaconed and beaconless acquisition sequences, spatial search strategies, coarse/fine handover, closed-loop tracking on quad cells or focal-plane arrays, disturbance rejection, and jitter budgets under platform motion.
- Model and analyze control-loop performance - bandwidth allocation, latency, sampling, sensor noise, actuator authority - and validate models against bench and field measurements.
- Define and negotiate payload-to-platform interfaces: mechanical and optical mounting, power, thermal, command and data handling, time synchronization, attitude and ephemeris data exchange, and the fault management and safing behavior the host expects. Author and maintain ICDs.
- Develop pointing and error budgets that flow across host attitude knowledge and stability, structural and thermal distortion, mechanism performance, sensor noise, and residual control error.
- Lead integration and test: write and execute payload-level test procedures, bring up hardware in the lab, debug across the optical/electrical/software boundary, and characterize end-to-end link and tracking performance.
- Support environmental qualification (vibration, shock, thermal-vacuum) and interpret performance shifts back to root cause in the design.
- Work directly with optical, opto-mechanical, electrical, software, and GNC engineers, translating between their domains and holding the system-level design intent.
Required Qualifications- B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
- 3+ years of systems engineering experience on optical or electro-optical payloads - free-space optical communication, lidar, imaging or remote sensing instruments, seekers, telescopes, or precision beam-steering systems.
- Demonstrated experience developing electrical interfaces between control electronics and mechanical or opto-mechanical hardware: motor and actuator drive, position sensing and encoders, analog front ends for optical detectors, and the associated signal integrity and grounding considerations.
- Working knowledge of closed-loop control design and analysis - plant modeling, loop shaping, stability margins, sensor and actuator characterization - with hands-on experience tuning real hardware, not only simulation.
- Experience defining and managing interfaces between a payload or instrument and its host platform, including authoring ICDs and negotiating resource and performance allocations.
- Fluency with modeling and analysis tooling (MATLAB/Simulink, Python, or equivalent) for control, budget, and performance analysis.
- Ability to read optical layout drawings and mechanical models well enough to interface productively with optical and opto-mechanical designers.
- Comfortable working hands-on in the lab and in cleanroom or controlled environments - bringing up hardware, taking data, and debugging integrated systems.
Preferred Qualifications- Space systems engineering experience: flight hardware development, spacecraft bus interfaces, radiation and single-event considerations, launch and on-orbit environments, or mission operations support.
- Familiarity with optical communication link concepts - link budgets, beam divergence, point-ahead, Doppler, atmospheric turbulence and fading, modulation and coding formats.
- Experience with gimbal-, fast-steering-mirror-, or Risley-prism-based pointing and tracking systems, including acquisition strategy design.
- Embedded software or FPGA experience relevant to real-time control and high-rate sensor interfaces.
- Familiarity with SWaP-C-constrained design and the trades between performance, mass, power, and manufacturability.
- Model-based systems engineering practice, and experience with requirements management and verification tooling.
- Background in aerospace or defense programs.
What We Offer:- Competitive compensation and equity packages
- Access to advanced optical test labs and cleanroom facilities
- A collaborative, multidisciplinary team working on next-gen optical communications
- Opportunities for technical growth, autonomy, and leadership
- Flexible work environment with strong emphasis on innovation and impact
Join Us If you're excited about building the future of connectivity in space, we'd love to talk.
