Electrical Engineer (Defense Photonics)

Job Description

Job Description

We are looking for an Electrical Engineer with 5+ years of experience to own the electronics that drive, control, and read out photonic missile seekers at a fast-moving defense photonics startup. You'll be the sole EE on a small interdisciplinary team building chip-based LiDAR seekers for counter-UAS interceptors and precision-guided munitions. The ideal candidate has a broad electronics background with depth in at least one area, experience designing PCBs from scratch (0 to 1), and a sensor or sensor fusion background. Prior experience at companies like Anduril, SpaceX, or one of the defense primes is highly valued — especially candidates who understand rigid military standards (WOSA/SOSA) and can translate them into working hardware.

What will you be doing?

• Designing drive circuitry for lasers and detectors, transimpedance amplifiers, and signal chains that convert optical signals into digital data for onboard compute
• Designing custom PCBs from scratch — taking circuits from breadboard through brassboard to integrated units, optimizing for size, weight, and power at each step
• Solving integration challenges including grounding, shielding, EMI/EMC, and ensuring electronics meet military standards (MIL-STD, WOSA, SOSA open architecture requirements)
• Collaborating with optical and mechanical engineers on system integration for missile-grade environments (vibration, shock, thermal)
• Building and debugging hardware on the bench, characterizing performance, and iterating rapidly in a design-build-test cadence

About The Company Building the merchant manufacturing layer for the photonics industry — the TSMC of optical components. The company's mission is to create the large-scale nanophotonics fabrication infrastructure that doesn't yet exist, enabling the next generation of satellite communications, optical computing, AI data centers, and defense systems.

Founded as a research-first company, it takes venture capital funding, burns it into cutting-edge photonics research, and commercializes the results. Their initial products are chip-based LiDAR seekers for counter-UAS interceptors and precision-guided munitions, built around optical metasurfaces. The longer-term roadmap extends through photonic gyroscopes and complete guidance modules toward a full merchant photonics foundry serving defense, data center, and space markets.

Why candidates should join

Our client is building the TSMC of photonics — merchant manufacturing for optical components powering satellite comms, AI data centers, and defense systems. Their first products are chip-based LiDAR seekers for counter-UAS interceptors and precision-guided munitions.

You'll own the electronics of a flagship product on a tiny team where your boards literally define the system — working alongside senior engineers with decades in defense photonics.

Electrical Engineer role in Hawthorne, CA. Comp range $160K–$230K + meaningful equity, full benefits, and all meals covered. 5+ years experience preferred.

You should be proficient in:

• Electrical / Electronic Systems
• National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program (NADCAP)