Sr. Electrical Engineer, Lasercom Verified today

About Observable Space

Observable Space is a vertically integrated space technology company building precision optics platforms for Earth and in-space observation. The company develops ground stations, on-orbit sensors, free-space optical lasercom, and distributed compute platforms. Observable Space is backed by Lux Capital, Upfront Ventures, RTX Ventures, Detroit Venture Partners, and Embedded Ventures.

The Role

You will lead the design and development of electrical systems for next-generation laser communications technology. This role sits at the intersection of photonics, fiber optics, analog electronics, RF design, and digital signal processing, supporting high-performance optical communication systems for aerospace applications. You will report to the Director of Electrical Engineering.

What You'll Do

• Design and develop electronics interfacing with laser communication systems, including lasers, photonic integrated circuits (PICs), optical amplifiers, modulators, detectors, and fiber optic subsystems.
• Design high-speed analog and mixed-signal circuitry supporting coherent optical and free-space optical communication systems.
• Develop signal conditioning, amplification, timing, clocking, and data conversion circuitry for ultra-high-bandwidth optical links.
• Design, analyze, and validate high-speed signal paths with emphasis on signal integrity, noise performance, jitter, and bandwidth.
• Model, simulate, prototype, and characterize optical communication hardware using laboratory instrumentation and simulation tools.
• Support development of DSP pipelines for modulation, demodulation, synchronization, equalization, and optical signal recovery.
• Collaborate with optical engineers to optimize laser performance, optical alignment, receiver sensitivity, and system link budgets.
• Perform electrical characterization and debugging using oscilloscopes, vector network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, bit-error-rate testers (BERTs), and optical spectrum analyzers.
• Participate in architecture trade studies, component selection, and performance optimization across the optical communication system.
• Support transition from prototype through flight-qualified hardware while balancing performance, manufacturability, and reliability.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Photonics, Optical Engineering, or 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 across electrical, optical, mechanical, and software disciplines.
• Comfortable working in fast-paced, prototype-driven engineering environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• MS or PhD in 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, or coherent modulation schemes.
• Familiarity with DSP algorithms including equalization, carrier recovery, clock recovery, and FEC.
• Experience with simulation tools such as ADS, HFSS, CST, COMSOL, Lumerical, or MATLAB/Simulink.
• Experience with FPGA-based communication systems.
• Familiarity with aerospace, defense, or satellite communication systems.
• Experience supporting hardware for harsh environmental or spaceflight applications.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary aligned with industry standards and experience.
• Stock options.
• Hybrid work environment with minimum 3 days per week in Los Angeles office.
• Unlimited PTO for exempt employees, plus paid holidays.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, with 100% premium paid by employer.
• Access to latest hardware and software tools.
• Mission-driven culture focused on meaningful work with real-world impact.