Senior Engineer, Systems Engineering

Job Purpose

The Senior Systems Engineer is a key technical leader responsible for the high-level architectural design of the full KARNO generator system, ensuring it satisfies customer and product requirements from concept through delivery. This role owns the translation of customer and product manager inputs into detailed technical requirements, and leads the engineering and validation testing effort needed to prove the system out.

Working across mechanical, electrical, thermal, and fluid systems disciplines, the Senior Systems Engineer partners closely with project management, production, and manufacturing teams to keep the product on schedule, while also providing technical mentorship to less experienced members of the engineering team, with the ability to step into hands-on design work directly when needed. This role advances KARNO’s development through disciplined systems thinking, clear requirements ownership, and strong cross-functional leadership.

Duties and Responsibilities

System Architecture & Design

• Lead and execute the high-level architectural design of the full KARNO generator system to satisfy customer requirements
• Make system-level design trade-offs across mechanical, electrical, thermal, and fluid subsystems
• Ensure architectural decisions align with performance, cost, manufacturability, and reliability goals
• Perform system-level assembly layout in 3D CAD to support architectural design and packaging decisions

Requirements Definition

• Lead efforts to convert customer and product manager requests into detailed technical requirements for design execution
• Ensure requirements are clear, testable, and traceable through the design process
• Flag conflicts or gaps between customer intent and technical feasibility early

Test Planning & Validation

• Plan and lead the engineering and validation test effort for the KARNO generator system
• Define test strategies and acceptance criteria that confirm the system meets its requirements
• Review test results and drive design changes where performance gaps are identified

Cross-Functional Program Support

• Support project management, production, and manufacturing groups to assure on-time delivery of the product
• Communicate design status, risks, and technical trade-offs to stakeholders across the organization
• Participate in design reviews and program milestones as the systems-level technical lead

Technical Mentorship & Leadership

• Provide technical mentorship and leadership to younger members of the engineering design team
• Guide junior engineers through design execution, reviewing their work and unblocking technical issues
• Step in and perform design work directly when required to keep the program on track

Documentation & Communication

• Maintain clear documentation of system architecture, requirements, and test results
• Communicate complex system-level trade-offs clearly to cross-functional stakeholders
• Ensure traceability between customer requirements, design decisions, and validation outcomes

Additional duties and responsibilities as assigned, needed, or required for the business.

Qualifications

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to among other things, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, (age), status as a protected veteran, or disability

Qualifications include:

• Education, Experience and Certifications
• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related field
• 5+ years of experience designing mechanical, electrical, or fluid system components
• Demonstrated experience leading system-level architecture on complex hardware products

• Skills and Abilities
• Basic foundation in mechanical, electrical, and thermal engineering — whether from a formal engineering degree or equivalent practical experience — combined with strong systems-level thinking across mechanical, electrical, thermal, and fluid disciplines
• Ability to translate ambiguous customer or product requests into detailed, actionable technical requirements
• Proficiency with MATLAB, Python, Excel, or similar tools for system modeling to support architecture trade studies and to correlate models against test data
• Ability to support project management, production, and manufacturing teams to keep programs on schedule
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and provide technical leadership to junior engineers, supported by sufficient hands-on design experience to assume execution responsibilities directly when program needs require it
• Experience contributing to the planning, design, construction, and execution of engineering tests, with prior exposure to laboratory test equipment; extensive test experience is not required, but some direct exposure is expected
• Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting skills across subsystems
• Clear and concise technical communication, both written and verbal
• Proficiency with a 3D CAD package such as NX, Creo, SolidWorks, or similar; this role requires performing system assembly layout directly in 3D CAD

Role Classification and Working Conditions

This is a salaried, exempt-level position. This position typically works in an office environment; and given the nature of our business is also exposed to

production/assembly/engineering lab environment.

Physical/Other Requirements

• Ability to lift and/ or move up to 75 pounds.
• Crouching: Bending the body downward and forward by bending leg and spine.
• Reaching: Extending hand(s) and arm(s) in any direction.
• Standing: Remaining upright on the feet, particularly for sustained periods of time.
• Walking: Moving about on foot to accomplish tasks, particularly for long distances or moving from one work site to another.
• Talking: Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word; those activities where detailed or important spoken instructions must be conveyed to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly.
• Hearing: Perceiving the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction and having the ability to receive detailed information through oral communication and making fine discriminations in sound.
• Repetitive motions: Making substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers.
• The worker is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; visual inspection involving small defects, small parts, and/or operation of machines (including inspection); using measurement devices; and/or assembly or fabrication of parts at distances close to the eyes.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
• Tolerance for flying.