Sr. Electrical Engineer, Lasercom

The role

This person will design and develop electrical systems for next-generation laser communications technology. They will work on electronics interfacing with lasers, photonic integrated circuits, and optical amplifiers.

What you will do

• Design and develop electronics that interface with laser communication systems.
• Design high-speed analog and mixed-signal circuitry for optical communication systems.
• Develop signal conditioning, amplification, timing, clocking, and data conversion circuitry.
• Design, analyze, and validate high-speed signal paths.
• Model, simulate, prototype, and characterize optical communication hardware.
• Support development of DSP pipelines.
• Collaborate with optical engineers to optimize laser performance and system link budgets.
• Perform electrical characterization and debugging using laboratory equipment.
• Participate in architecture trade studies and component selection.
• Support transition from prototype through flight-qualified hardware.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Photonics, Optical Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 5+ years designing optical communication or high-speed communication systems.
• Strong understanding of fiber electronics, optics, lasers, and signal processing.
• Experience designing electronics supporting high-speed optical or communication systems.
• Familiarity with digital communication theory, modulation schemes, coding, synchronization, and digital signal processing.
• Experience performing laboratory validation of high-speed communication hardware.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to work across electrical, optical, mechanical, and software disciplines.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, prototype-driven engineering environment.

Nice to have

• MS or PhD focused on optical communications, photonics, microwave engineering, RF systems, or digital communications.
• Experience developing coherent optical communication systems.
• Experience with free-space optical communications (FSO) or laser communication systems.
• Experience with photonic integrated circuits (PICs), fiber optic transceivers, EDFAs, coherent receivers, or optical modulators.
• Experience with high-speed SerDes, PAM4, QAM, QPSK, coherent modulation, or related communication architectures.
• Familiarity with DSP algorithms for optical communications including equalization, carrier recovery, clock recovery, and FEC.
• Experience using simulation tools such as ADS, HFSS, CST, COMSOL, Lumerical, MATLAB/Simulink, or similar.
• Experience with FPGA-based communication systems.
• Familiarity with aerospace, defense, or satellite communication systems.
• Experience supporting hardware developed for harsh environmental or spaceflight applications.

Benefits

• Competitive Compensation
• Equity Opportunities with stock options
• Flexible Work Environment
• Unlimited PTO (Salaried positions only)
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with 100% of the premium paid by the employer
• Access to latest hardware and software
• Mission-Driven Culture
• Inclusive Team

About the company

Observable Space is a vertically integrated, high-growth, space technology company building precision optics platforms for Earth and in space. They deliver foundational systems for navigation, observation, and communication in space.