Senior/Staff Systems Engineer
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Oct 4, 2026. First seen by Alion on Oct 1, 2026.
About SirenOpt
SirenOpt helps manufacturers make better, safer, and more reliable micro- and nano-materials. These materials are the building blocks of critical sectors of the global economy such as batteries, computer chips, aircraft components, and power systems. But, surging material demand and growing complexity are pushing production to unprecedented scales and speeds, leaving manufacturers effectively flying blind. Small, undetected variations during production lead to wastage, lower performance, higher costs, and safety risks.
SirenOpt is changing this by developing a manufacturing intelligence platform that non-destructively probes materials during production, revealing critical internal information without damaging them. Using a novel combination of cold atmospheric plasma, physics-informed machine learning, and predictive analytics, SirenOpt generates unique, real-time material fingerprints that capture material signals not accessible through conventional measurement techniques. These insights give manufacturers unprecedented visibility into how materials behave as they are made.
We turn hidden data into actionable intelligence to help manufacturers reduce variability and thus increase yield and performance. The technology can be deployed as a standalone tool or integrated directly into factory production lines. SirenOpt is currently deploying early versions of its platform with some of the largest industrial manufacturers in the world across North America, Europe, and Asia.
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
Define and own system-level architecture, integration, and validation of SirenOpt's plasma-based sensing platform
Guide system-level technical decisions through experimentation, data analysis, and cross-disciplinary evaluation
Lead investigation and resolution of complex system performance issues through structured experimentation, data analysis, and root cause analysis
Establish and evolve the structure used to document experiments, system designs, interfaces, and technical decisions across the organization
Ensure technical documentation is clear, consistent, and traceable, and tightly integrated with hands-on engineering and validation activities
Work closely with cross-functional engineering teams to guide system integration and resolve non-trivial cross-disciplinary issues
Incorporate customer and application feedback into system-level design evolution and validation strategy
Support on-site installation, validation, and system upgrade activities at customer sites as needed
Domestic and international travel of approximately 10-15% is expected.
What We're Looking For
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
Experience developing automated metrology, inspection, or diagnostic systems across system definition, integration, validation, deployment, and customer support
Experience working in early-stage or ambiguous R&D environments, using experimentation and data analysis to evaluate concepts and guide system-level decisions
Proficiency with tools such as Python, MATLAB, C, LabVIEW, or similar for data analysis, modeling, and evaluation of system performance
Extensive hands-on experience developing, integrating, and validating prototypes, subsystems, and complete systems
Experience working across mechanical, electrical, software, and experimental domains to resolve complex integration and performance issues
Demonstrated ability to guide technical direction through experimentation, data-driven analysis, and cross-disciplinary evaluation
Experience establishing or evolving technical documentation practices, ensuring clarity, consistency, and traceability of experimental results and system decisions
Strong written and verbal communication skills, particularly in documenting complex technical work clearly for diverse audiences
Nice to have:
Experience with manufacturing metrology equipment and sensors used for characterization or fabrication of advanced materials
Experience with requirements and test management tools (e.g., Jama or similar) and data analysis software such as JMP
Experience with early-stage R&D and/or new product introduction (NPI) in complex technical systems
Exposure to high-precision, high-throughput industrial systems for material handling, metrology, or process automation
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
Familiarity with high-voltage devices; exposure to plasma-based systems
Experience with capital equipment designed for integration into manufacturing environments, particularly roll-to-roll and piece-to-piece processes
Base Pay Range
$150,000—$190,000 USD
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