Senior/Staff Systems Engineer
SirenOpt · San Leandro · $150,000–$190,000 (stated in the posting)
About SirenOpt
At SirenOpt®, we are building the manufacturing intelligence layer for advanced materials. We help manufacturers visualize, understand, and control the material behavior that determines yield, performance, and safety across energy, aerospace, automotive, electronics, and semiconductor applications.
We are working on this problem because advanced materials are becoming more critical and more complex, but the tools used to manufacture them have not kept pace. Manufacturers still lack real-time visibility into the small variations that shape quality on the line. We care because those invisible variations cause scrap, waste energy and materials, create higher costs, inconsistent product performance, and introduce avoidable safety risks.
We developed PlasmaSens™, our manufacturing intelligence platform, to close that visibility gap and to lay the foundation for truly autonomous manufacturing.
We are uniquely suited to solve this problem because our expertise and our platform connect material science, plasma physics, machine learning, and manufacturing in one system. The same core technology works in-line, at-line, and off-line, and across form factors ranging from electrodes and wafers to 3D components. That flexibility lets us meet manufacturers where they are and carry insight from the lab into mass production.
We have deployed multiple PlasmaSens products with customers and collaborators across the United States, Japan, Germany, and Taiwan. We pair that real-world experience with support from leading US, European, and Japanese venture investors, the National Science Foundation, the California Energy Commission, and the Department of Energy. Our combination of differentiated technology, manufacturing experience, and global scientific and industry partnerships gives us the foundation to solve material variability at scale.
About the job
Job Title: Senior/Staff Systems Engineer
Location: On-Site (San Leandro, CA)
Job Type: Full-Time
Role Overview
We are seeking a Staff Systems Engineer to define, integrate, and validate SirenOpt's plasma-based sensing platform for deployment into advanced manufacturing environments. As an early-stage member of the SirenOpt team, you will play a key role in shaping system-level behavior and ensuring technical coherence across hardware, software, and experimental domains, helping establish a strong and scalable technical foundation for the company.
This role carries responsibility both for system-level technical ownership and for shaping how technical work is documented across the organization. You will define and evolve the structure used to document experiments, system designs, interfaces, and technical decisions, ensuring clarity, consistency, and traceability as the company grows. These documentation practices are expected to be tightly coupled to hands-on engineering work, including experimentation, data analysis, and system validation.
The ideal candidate applies sound systems engineering judgment to complex, cross-disciplinary problems and is comfortable operating in areas of ambiguity. You will drive system-level trade studies, guide experimental strategy, and resolve non-trivial integration and performance issues, while remaining deeply engaged in day-to-day technical execution. This role offers an opportunity to operate at a high level of technical impact in a collaborative and fast-moving engineering environment.
What You'll Do
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Define and own system-level architecture, integration, and validation of SirenOpt's plasma-based sensing platform
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Guide system-level technical decisions through experimentation, data analysis, and cross-disciplinary evaluation
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Lead investigation and resolution of complex system performance issues through structured experimentation, data analysis, and root cause analysis
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Establish and evolve the structure used to document experiments, system designs, interfaces, and technical decisions across the organization
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Ensure technical documentation is clear, consistent, and traceable, and tightly integrated with hands-on engineering and validation activities
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Work closely with cross-functional engineering teams to guide system integration and resolve non-trivial cross-disciplinary issues
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Incorporate customer and application feedback into system-level design evolution and validation strategy
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Support on-site installation, validation, and system upgrade activities at customer sites as needed
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Domestic and international travel of approximately 10-15% is expected.
What We're Looking For
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B.S. in Engineering or Physics with 5+ years of relevant industry experience, M.S. with 3+ years, or Ph.D. with 2+ years of hands-on systems experience
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Experience developing automated metrology, inspection, or diagnostic systems across system definition, integration, validation, deployment, and customer support
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Experience working in early-stage or ambiguous R&D environments, using experimentation and data analysis to evaluate concepts and guide system-level decisions
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Proficiency with tools such as Python, MATLAB, C, LabVIEW, or similar for data analysis, modeling, and evaluation of system performance
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Extensive hands-on experience developing, integrating, and validating prototypes, subsystems, and complete systems
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Experience working across mechanical, electrical, software, and experimental domains to resolve complex integration and performance issues
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Demonstrated ability to guide technical direction through experimentation, data-driven analysis, and cross-disciplinary evaluation
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Experience establishing or evolving technical documentation practices, ensuring clarity, consistency, and traceability of experimental results and system decisions
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Strong written and verbal communication skills, particularly in documenting complex technical work clearly for diverse audiences
Nice to have:
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Experience with manufacturing metrology equipment and sensors used for characterization or fabrication of advanced materials
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Experience with requirements and test management tools (e.g., Jama or similar) and data analysis software such as JMP
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Experience with early-stage R&D and/or new product introduction (NPI) in complex technical systems
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Exposure to high-precision, high-throughput industrial systems for material handling, metrology, or process automation
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Prior work or research experience in one or more of the key industrial markets that SirenOpt addresses, including batteries, semiconductors, power generation, energy, or electronics
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Familiarity with high-voltage devices; exposure to plasma-based systems
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Experience with capital equipment designed for integration into manufacturing environments, particularly roll-to-roll and piece-to-piece processes
Benefits
- Equity and Salary compensation depends on experience
- Health, Dental, Vision plans provided
- 401k matching provided
- Time off: 20 days of PTO per year, plus approximately 15 paid US holidays per year
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