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Salary: USD 170,000 - 250,000 / annual
Red 6 is an augmented reality startup developing synthetic air combat training systems for military pilots. The ATARS product overlays realistic 3D adversaries, wingmen, terrain, and tankers into pilots' real-time views during actual flight, replacing costly legacy training methods with immersive, repeatable, scalable preparation.
As Principal Electrical Engineer, you will own the electrical architecture for next-generation airborne AR hardware—from blank-page design through prototype, military qualification (MIL-STD-461 EMI/EMC and MIL-STD-810 environmental), manufacturing, and flight deployment. You will lead the full lifecycle of real-time embedded systems that fly in actual military aircraft.
Key responsibilities include:
- Defining next-generation electrical architecture and subsystem integration strategies for mission-critical airborne systems
- Conducting trade studies, prototype validation, and design optimization across power, signal integrity, and environmental robustness
- Designing electrical interfaces, power architectures, PCBA layouts, and flex circuits to military standards
- Collaborating with systems, optics, software, and flight test teams on proposals, budgets, and schedules
- Mentoring electrical engineers and establishing design standards and best practices for a growing EE organization
- Hands-on lab work with oscilloscopes, power supplies, spectrum analyzers, and design simulation tools
- Planning, tracking, and communicating design progress against cost and schedule constraints
Your work directly impacts warfighter readiness and preparation for real-world missions. You will have significant influence over product direction and technical decisions in a high-growth, early-stage company positioned to lead the defense AR industry.
REQUIREMENTS:
- BS in Electrical Engineering or related technical field
- 12+ years developing complex electrical systems for aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability applications (or equivalent education/experience mix)
- 5+ years leading electrical architecture for complex airborne or mission-critical systems
- Deep expertise in subsystem electrical architecture, mission systems integration, and real-time embedded hardware
- Hands-on experience defining electrical interfaces, power architectures, integration strategies, PCBA and flex circuit design
- Proven track record designing to MIL-STD-461 (EMI/EMC) and MIL-STD-810 (environmental) standards
- Experience leading trade studies, architecture reviews, and multidisciplinary teams through complex engineering problems
- Proficiency with lab instrumentation (oscilloscopes, power supplies, spectrum analyzers)
- Ability to plan, track, and communicate design work against cost and schedule
- Strong communication and leadership skills that elevate engineers around you
- U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain/maintain DoD Secret clearance
IDEAL QUALIFICATIONS:
- Hands-on military flight hardware development experience, including qualification, airworthiness certification, and flight deployment on military aircraft
- MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering
- Experience with FPGAs, SoCs, SOMs, GPUs, displays, sensors, and test systems
- PCBA design and simulation with Altium
- High-speed design expertise (DDR3/DDR4, PCIe 3.0/4.0, DisplayPort, USB 3.0, Ethernet, VPX, rugged computing)
- Knowledge of avionics protocols (MIL-STD-1553, ARINC 429, CAN, deterministic architectures)
- Systems engineering per ISO/IEEE 15288 and product development lifecycle experience
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams solving hard problems and mentor staff
- Sense of urgency, confidence, and personal accountability for on-time, high-quality delivery
