Principal Electrical and Firmware Systems Architect

Monarch Quantum•San Diego, CA

About The Position

Join the Systems Engineering, Integration, and Test team as a Principal Electrical and Firmware Systems Architect. The role owns the electrical and firmware architecture of laser and photonic systems, translating system-level photonic requirements into clear, testable requirements for electrical and firmware elements, including communications and electronics infrastructure, analog signal processing, FPGA, and frequency-locking servo control. It is a hands-on position in a fast-paced startup environment, working closely with leadership and developing engineering practices to support the company’s mission and growth. The architect partners with the Photonic Systems Architect and cross-functional teams to define system architecture and interfaces, develop integration and verification strategies, troubleshoot hardware, and present architecture at technical reviews. The role also drives design for manufacturability, testability, and reliability, and mentors engineers. Access to export-controlled information is required. Employment is contingent on the applicant being a U.S. person as defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3).

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
At least 10 years of experience architecting, designing, and testing electronics and firmware for complex electro-optical, laser, or precision measurement systems.
Demonstrated expertise in communications topology and architecture for multi-board embedded systems.
Demonstrated expertise in low-noise analog signal processing and control electronics.
Demonstrated expertise in FPGA architecture and real-time digital signal processing.
Demonstrated expertise in electronics infrastructure, including power, grounding, shielding, and thermal design.
Demonstrated expertise in frequency-locking techniques and servo controller design, such as PDH, PID, and lock-in detection.
Track record of architecting and delivering high-reliability electronics and firmware from development through production.
Strong command of systems engineering practices, including requirements flow-down, interface management, and design reviews.
Proficiency with embedded firmware development in C/C++ and HDL (VHDL or Verilog).
Hands-on laboratory skills with oscilloscopes, spectrum and network analyzers, and noise characterization.
Excellent communication and leadership skills, with demonstrated ability to drive technical decisions across teams.
Must be a U.S. person as defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3), due to required access to export-controlled information.
Creative, flexible, comfortable wearing multiple hats, passionate about building systems from the ground up, and comfortable with ambiguity and change.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree.
Experience with laser systems, photonics, quantum systems, or precision metrology.
Experience with EMC, environmental testing, or qualification.

Responsibilities

Partner with the Photonic Systems Architect to decompose and flow down system requirements into electrical and firmware requirements, specifications, and acceptance criteria.
Define communications topology and architecture, including internal buses, controller hierarchy, external interfaces, timing, and data flow between subsystems and host software.
Architect analog signal-processing and control chains, including photodetection, signal conditioning, low-noise amplification, and data conversion, and own associated noise and bandwidth budgets.
Define FPGA architecture and partitioning between FPGA, microcontroller, and host processing for real-time control, data acquisition, and digital signal processing.
Architect frequency-locking and servo control systems for laser stabilization, including error-signal generation, loop design, bandwidth and stability analysis, and lock acquisition and recovery.
Define electronics infrastructure, including power distribution, grounding, shielding, thermal management, cabling, and board- and chassis-level partitioning.
Define and control electrical and firmware interfaces through interface control documents, working with photonics, mechanical, and software teams.
Develop integration and verification strategies, including test plans, requirements traceability, and system-level characterization on real hardware.
Lead system-level troubleshooting across the optical, electrical, and firmware boundary, and drive root-cause analysis and corrective action.
Present and defend electrical and firmware architecture and maturity at technical reviews, including SRR, PDR, and CDR, to leadership and customers.
Drive design for manufacturability, testability, and reliability to support scalable production.
Mentor engineers and build a culture of technical rigor, ownership, and cross-functional collaboration.