Senior Principal Electrical-Optics Engineer

General Dynamics Mission Systems, Inc • Annapolis Junction, MD

18h • $221,454 - $234,000 • Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking a senior electrical engineer to design, integrate, test, and sustain Free-Space Optical (FSO) communications systems, modem hardware, and associated development and test equipment. This role spans board-level circuit design through system architecture, customer engagement, and technical leadership.

Requirements

• Requires a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, or a related Science, Engineering, Technology or Mathematics field. Also requires 10+ years of job-related experience, or a Master's degree plus 8 years of job-related experience.
• Ability to obtain a Department of Defense TS/SCI with Polygraph security clearance is required at time of hire. Applicants selected will be subject to a U.S. Government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information. Due to the nature of work performed within our facilities, U.S. citizenship is required.
• Direct experience designing and troubleshooting mixed-signal PWBs that combine precision analog, switching or linear power, digital logic, FPGAs, memories, and high-speed interfaces.
• Direct, relevant experience designing high-speed digital hardware and interfaces operating at frequencies up to 10 GHz.
• Direct experience with electro-optical hardware, including cameras, lasers, fiber-optic communications equipment, optical transceivers, optical attenuators, or optical switching.
• Recent hands-on use of PCB design, simulation, and analysis tools such as Xpedition, HyperLynx, LTspice, MATLAB, or closely comparable tools.
• Practical experience with schematic capture, PCB design review, design for test, design for manufacturability, board bring-up, laboratory troubleshooting, test procedures, and laboratory instrumentation.
• Ability to document hardware architectures and ICDs spanning electrical, optical, mechanical, FPGA/firmware, and software interfaces, and to brief management and customers at an appropriate level of detail.
• Demonstrated ability to distinguish technical symptoms from root causes and drive complex hardware and system issues to evidence-based resolution.
• 10+ years of progressively responsible electrical-engineering experience and ownership of complex board- or system-level designs.

Nice To Haves

• Moves comfortably between system architecture, schematic review, simulation, bench measurement, and failure analysis while retaining the mission need and system-level context.
• Understands that electro-optical performance depends on optics, analog electronics, power quality, thermal behavior, digital interfaces, control software, packaging, and test methods.
• Identifies technical risks, incomplete requirements, weak interfaces, and verification gaps early; resolves them using disciplined analysis and measured evidence.
• Designs for manufacturability, serviceability, testability, and sustainment, not only nominal laboratory performance.
• Communicates concisely with leadership and customers, leads with the decision, status, risk, or recommendation, and provides circuit-level detail when asked.
• Is forward-leaning and self-directed, shares knowledge freely, mentors others, delegates effectively, and collaborates across multiple programs without waiting for detailed tasking.
• Experience with FSO communications systems, modem hardware, optical networking, RF/optical data links, AMD/Xilinx FPGA-based hardware, or high-speed interfaces.
• Experience with commercial optical/network test equipment such as Spirent, Viavi, Polatis, optical power meters, BER testers, or spectrum analyzers.
• Experience in defense, aerospace, government, or another mission-critical product-development environment; leading formal design reviews; or contributing to proposals, basis-of-estimate development, and customer technical exchanges.

Responsibilities

• Architect and design printed wiring boards and electro-optical systems for FSO communications products, modems, and test equipment, including COTS components, precision analog circuits, power supplies, FPGAs, memories, high-speed digital interfaces, and optical/network components.
• Integrate cameras, lasers, fiber-optic links, SFPs, variable optical attenuators, optical switches, and associated monitoring and control hardware into reliable end-to-end systems.
• Define electrical, optical, mechanical, firmware, and software interfaces; produce reviewable hardware architectures, ICDs, design analyses, schematics, test plans, and verification evidence.
• Perform circuit simulation and analysis, including tolerance, signal-integrity, power-integrity, thermal, and relevant worst-case electrical, timing, power, environmental, and tolerance analyses.
• Use current design and analysis tools, including Siemens/Mentor Xpedition, HyperLynx, LTspice, MATLAB, and comparable analog, digital, and electro-optical tools.
• Lead hardware bring-up, integration, troubleshooting, root-cause analysis, and corrective action at board and system levels.
• Develop test approaches, fixtures, and automated test capabilities; use Python, C, C++, or comparable languages for test automation, instrument control, data collection, and engineering analysis.
• Support proposals and customer engagement by defining technical approaches, risks, estimates, requirements, and user needs before Performance Work Specification (PWS) definition.
• Mentor engineers, delegate work intentionally, and share critical technical knowledge across multiple concurrent programs.

Benefits

• An exciting career path with opportunities for continuous learning and development.
• Research oriented work, alongside award winning teams developing practical solutions for our nation’s security
• Flexible schedules with every other Friday off work, if desired (9/80 schedule)
• Competitive benefits, including 401k matching, flex time off, paid parental leave, healthcare benefits, health & wellness programs, employee resource and social groups, and more
• Highly competitive benefits
• Flexible work environment where contributions are recognized and rewarded

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior