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Principal System Engineer (Contract)

Torrance, California, United States
Full Time On-site

Summary

Job Description

Job Summary 

This is an exciting and high visibility role in a growing company. The ideal candidate for the position is someone who has experience with every phase of systems engineering from inception to launch. In this role, you will work with cross-functional team of talented engineers to architect, develop, integrate, and test multifunctional systems.     

Responsibilities:  

  • Own system requirements for a product, including requirement definition and subsystem requirements 
  • Act as key interface with either existing or prospective customers to prove customer requirements/needs are fully satisfied by captured  
  • Coordinate with cross functional team members to drive key requirements with subsystem design teams.  
  • Develop interface control documentation and own interface management between hardware/software/firmware subsystems  
  • Spearhead complete V-cycle artifacts from requirements to validation.  
  • Design, own and maintain system architecture diagrams by collaborating with key stakeholders. 
  • Perform trade studies and quick-turn impact analyses to facilitate design choices. 
  • Perform analysis to prove system requirements are addressed by the system design. 
  • Lead the toll gate process from requirements to launch. 
  • Ability to steer through ambiguity with minimal guidance. 

Basic Qualifications: 

  • BS or MS degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Aerospace, or similar field  
  • 8+ years of industry experience, preferably with experience spanning the entire product lifecycle (Concept to Delivery)  
  • Demonstrated experience establishing the technical baseline of a system/product and working through ambiguity. 
  • Experience working with Systems Engineering tools for Requirements Management and Product Lifecycle Management (e.g. JAMA, Polarion, DOORS)  
  • Experience working with MBSE (e.g. SparxEA, Capella)  
  • Experience with Python development or other similar object-oriented languages   
  • Experience working with Git/GitHub, or similar version control systems   
  • Ability to identify gaps, prioritize in the context of the project / program, and lead an effort involving multiple engineers from other teams to resolve issues   

ITAR REQUIREMENTS:

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.   

At Epirus, you’ll work with technical peers and great people—and get first crack at some of the defining technology challenges of our time. Here, “impossible” is just a challenge. We're a diverse, fast-growing team of change-makers fueling the future of energy with revolutionary solutions. Join us and rewrite the rules. 

As required by the Equal Pay Transparency Act, Epirus provides a reasonable range of minimum compensation for roles that may be hired. Actual compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, and specific office location. 
For the state of California only, the range of starting pay for this role is:
$167,000—$196,800 USD

About Epirus

Epirus

Epirus is a fast-growing defense technology company building next-generation directed energy systems designed to counter modern battlefield threats, especially drone swarms and electronic attacks. The company is best known for its flagship system, Leonidas, a high-power microwave platform that disables electronics at range and represents a shift toward “one-to-many” counter-drone defense capabilities in modern warfare.

For job seekers, Epirus offers the chance to work on highly advanced systems at the intersection of electronics, software, AI, and defense engineering. The company hires across robotics, electrical engineering, RF systems, software development, systems engineering, manufacturing, and defense program roles—making it especially attractive to engineers, veterans, and cleared professionals who want to build technologies used directly in national security missions.

Unlike traditional defense contractors, Epirus operates with a startup-style, mission-driven culture focused on speed, ownership, and rapid deployment of technology into real-world environments. Employees work in a highly technical environment where hardware and software are tightly integrated, and where innovation is driven by urgent operational needs rather than long development cycles.

As militaries increasingly prioritize counter-drone, electronic warfare, and autonomous defense systems, Epirus continues to grow its footprint through new contracts, partnerships, and production scaling. For professionals looking to join a high-growth defense startup building cutting-edge electromagnetic and AI-enabled defense systems, Epirus stands out as one of the most closely watched companies in the modern defense technology ecosystem.

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