Job Description

Job Description

Job Description

At Areté, we are on the forefront of utilizing innovative solutions, with great minds from all backgrounds, to help solve the nation’s most complex security challenges. We strive for an inclusive, collaborative team environment that approaches differences as opportunities for innovation and excellence. As an employee-owned company, we foster an atmosphere that propels diverse career opportunities and professional growth.

Discover your future with us.

Our Electro-Optics and Laser Solutions Team is seeking a hands-on Principal Electrical Engineer to lead an agile team in the design and development of advanced electronics for LASER and LIDAR systems. This role involves creating rugged, high-performance equipment for deployment across airborne, terrestrial, and underwater platforms.

As a technical leader, you’ll play a key role in designing new sensors, circuits, and systems—starting from fundamental physical principles and system requirements, through prototyping, debugging, testing, and integration into larger operational systems. A critical part of this role is ensuring production readiness and supporting build activities, partnering with manufacturing and quality teams to deliver designs that are not only innovative but also robust, reliable, and ready for shipment. The ideal candidate thrives in a multidisciplinary environment, enjoys solving complex challenges collaboratively, and is passionate about both advanced system design and driving high-quality products into the field. This is a full-time, exempt, supervisory role based in our Niwot, Colorado office.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to a group of talented engineers
• Design, analyze and test electronics to control LASER, LIDAR and other electro-optic systems through the entire lifecycle, from concept through production, delivery, and customer support.
• Collaborate with a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers to ensure that designs and testing strategies align with system objectives and performance requirements.
• Create products that meet rigorous performance requirements while being practical to build, test, and maintain.
• Support pilot and production builds, resolving line issues quickly, driving first-pass yield improvements, and ensuring on-time, on-quality shipments.
• Contribute to system architecture design reviews and risk analyses

We have an impressive range of benefits, programs, and perks that we offer:

Health & Wellness:

• Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance
• Life and Long-Term Disability (LTD)
• Vision Reimbursement
• Fitness Reimbursement

Financial:

• 401(k) Retirement Plan Contributions
• Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
• Continuing Education Assistance

Work-Life Balance:

• Flexible Scheduling
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Paid Parental and Bereavement Leave

What We Value:

• Creativity and innovation in solving challenges
• Integrity and responsibility in all actions
• Collaboration across teams and specialties
• Responsiveness in fast-paced environments
• Passion for national security and excellence

Experiences and Background We Look For:

• BS in Electrical/Electronic Engineering with 10+ yrs experience, or MS with 7+ yrs; equivalent education/experience considered.
• Experience in a technical leadership role guiding a team of engineers
• Experience leading a team or a product through a development cycle and into production
• Experience with one or more of the following:
  • Lasers or electro-optic systems
  • Detailed PCB design, with expertise in complex multilayer board layouts
  • Design and development of embedded processor systems
  • FPGA design and implementation
  • Power system design for ruggedized embedded systems
  • Experience in a high-tech low volume electronics manufacturing environment

Nice to have:

• Proficiency with Altium Designer for PCB layout and schematic capture
• Experience with SPICE for circuit simulation and analysis
• Familiarity with STM32 microcontrollers and embedded system development
• Experience with Xilinx FPGAs, including Vivado and Vitis toolchains
• Knowledge of high-speed and RF circuit design principles
• Experience developing and delivering production-ready hardware and software products
• Experience with Design for Manufacturability, Test, and Reliability (DFx) principles
• Familiarity with FMEA, fault tree, worst case analysis, de-rating, etc.
• DoD security clearance

The salary range for this role is $175,000 to $210,000; however, Arete considers several factors when extending an offer of employment, including but not limited to: the position and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, education/training, and key skills.

Other Considerations

Areté is committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination, and we believe every person has the right to be treated with fairness, dignity, and equal consideration.

Areté is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

U.S. citizenship is required to meet position eligibility.

Successful passage of a criminal background screen is required to meet position eligibility.

Selected applicants will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.

Areté will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring.

Successful passage of a Department of Transportation (DOT) drug test is required to meet position eligibility.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you have the right to request an accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our website because of your disability. To request an accommodation, please contact Areté Human Resources at 818-885-2200 for assistance.

Job Tags

Full time, Work experience placement, Work at office, Local area, Flexible hours,

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