Senior Electro-Optical Engineer

Department: Avionics

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Redondo Beach

Reporting To: Kevin Mikolaitis

Compensation: $150,000 - $190,000 / year

Description

As a Senior Electro-Optical Engineer at Impulse, you will own the development offlight camera systems and optical payloads from early architecture through testand flight. This role is for someone who wants to do more than contributeanalysis in a narrow lane, you will be responsible for the technical execution of aspacecraft electro-optical product and will help define how it is built, tested, andintegrated.

You will work across optics, camera hardware, embedded software, opto-mechanics, avionics, test, and spacecraft integration to deliver high-performanceflight systems on aggressive timelines. This is a high-autonomy role withsignificant room for growth. The right person will be comfortable acting as thetechnical owner of the product, driving decisions, coordinating cross-functionalexecution, and closing hardware quickly.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical development of flight camera systems and optical payloads from concept through flight.
• Define requirements, drive architecture trades, and make key decisions across optics, detector selection, embedded camera interfaces, opto-mechanics, thermal design, and calibration strategy.
• Partner closely with embedded software, avionics, mechanical, thermal, manufacturing, and test teams to bring up, validate, and mature hardware.
• Lead subsystem integration, test planning, issue resolution, and performance closure for electro-optical flight hardware.
• Drive execution with a high degree of autonomy, including risk retirement, prioritization, vendor coordination, and communication of technical status to leadership.

Minimum Qualifications

• Own the technical development of flight camera systems and optical payloads from concept through flight.
• Define requirements, drive architecture trades, and make key decisions across optics, detector selection, embedded camera interfaces, opto-mechanics, thermal design, and calibration strategy.
• Partner closely with embedded software, avionics, mechanical, thermal, manufacturing, and test teams to bring up, validate, and mature hardware.
• Lead subsystem integration, test planning, issue resolution, and performance closure for electro-optical flight hardware.
• Drive execution with a high degree of autonomy, including risk retirement, prioritization, vendor coordination, and communication of technical status to leadership.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience developing flight cameras, imaging payloads, optical navigation systems, electro-optical spacecraft hardware, or other precision imaging systems.
• Strong core competency in one or more of the following: camera embedded software, electro-optical hardware, opto-mechanics, or optical system design.
• Experience with CMOS image sensors, camera electronics, detector bring-up, image pipelines, or embedded camera software.
• Experience with optical design and analysis tools such as Zemax OpticStudio, Code V, or similar.
• Experience with calibration, image quality characterization, and environmental test of precision imaging systems.
• Space hardware experience, including qualification, acceptance, launch survivability, and spacecraft integration, is strongly preferred.
• Prior experience operating as a responsible engineer, technical lead, principal investigator, or product-facing engineering owner is a plus.

Why this role at Impulse
This is an opportunity to take real ownership of hardware that flies. You will have
the autonomy to shape architecture, drive execution, and influence product
direction while working on spacecraft payloads in a fast-moving environment.
As the team grows, this role offers meaningful opportunities to expand in scope and technical leadership.


Additional Information:

Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.

Impulse Space’s spacecraft manufacturing business is subject to U.S. export regulations including the International Traffic in