Lead Systems Engineer
Lead Systems Engineer who owns cross-functional product design and system architecture for traffic management hardware products, aligning hardware, firmware/embedded, and IoT/cloud teams from requirements through integration and validation. Requires deep systems-level knowledge spanning GPU-based compute (e.g., NVIDIA), sensors (camera, radar, LiDAR), and device-to-cloud architectures.
- Compensation
- $125K–$145K / yr
- Location
- Anaheim, CA, US
- Work setup
- Not specified
- Seniority
- Lead
- Employment
- Contract
- Experience
- 3+ years
- Category
- Software engineering
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- 7+ years of systems engineering or equivalent experience, with significant work in traffic/automotive/industrial technology domains
- 3+ years in a technical leadership or lead role coordinating cross-functional engineering teams (hardware, firmware/embedded, cloud/IoT)
- Strong working knowledge of hardware development fundamentals, including chip/SOM-based compute platforms (e.g., NVIDIA GPU-based) and sensor interfaces (camera, radar, LiDAR)
- Solid understanding of embedded/firmware software development and test practices and constraints
- Experience with IoT connectivity and cloud integration architectures (device-to-cloud communication, data pipelines, remote management/OTA, security)
- Demonstrated ability to own requirements definition and system architecture across multiple engineering disciplines
- Experience working within formal development processes and ISO standards
- Practical experience applying agile methodologies to hardware and systems-level engineering programs
- Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field
- Excellent communication and facilitation skills, able to align stakeholders across product, hardware, firmware, and cloud teams
Nice to have
- Experience in traffic management systems, ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems), or ADAS-related products
- Experience with requirements management tools (e.g., Jira/Confluence-based traceability)
- Background working with outsourced hardware partners, contract manufacturers, or design houses
- Track record of successfully launching connected hardware products from concept through production
Full description
Lead Systems EngineerAbout the Role
We are seeking an experienced Lead Systems Engineer to own cross-functional product design and drive engineering alignment across our hardware, firmware, embedded software, and IoT/cloud development teams. This role sits at the intersection of product and engineering, translating market and customer requirements into coherent system architectures and ensuring disciplined execution across all technical disciplines involved in delivering our traffic management and data driven architecture.
The ideal candidate is a systems-level thinker with strong technical depth across hardware, embedded software, and connected/cloud systems, who thrives on aligning diverse engineering teams around a shared product vision and technical roadmap.
Key Responsibilities
- Own cross-functional product design implementation, working closely with the product organization to translate business and customer requirements into system-level requirements and architecture
- Drive team and schedule alignment across hardware development, embedded software development, and IoT/cloud integration teams throughout the product development lifecycle
- Define and maintain system architecture, including interfaces and dependencies between hardware, firmware, and cloud/IoT layers
- Lead requirements decomposition and traceability from product/customer needs down to component-level specifications
- Facilitate technical trade-off decisions across disciplines (hardware, firmware, cloud) to balance cost, performance, schedule, and manufacturability
- Coordinate system-level integration, verification, and validation activities across engineering teams
- Identify and manage cross-team technical risks and dependencies, escalating and resolving blockers proactively
- Partner with hardware engineering on chip/SOM selection, sensor integration (camera, radar, LiDAR), and total edge component architecture as they affect overall system design
- Partner with firmware/software teams on embedded architecture, IoT connectivity, and cloud integration strategy
- Support development and ISO process compliance across the full product development lifecycle
- Champion agile methodologies adapted for multi-discipline hardware/software/cloud systems development
- Represent systems engineering in product planning, design reviews, and stakeholder communications
Required Qualifications
- 7+ years of systems engineering or equivalent experience, with significant work in traffic/automotive/industrial technology domains
- 3+ years in a technical leadership or lead role coordinating cross-functional engineering teams (hardware, firmware/embedded, and cloud/IoT)