Staff Engineer, Early Engagement

Role Overview:
We are seeking a Staff Engineer to join our Early Engagement team and lead the front end of complex system development efforts. In this role, you will serve as SOE’s senior technical authority during early client engagements, partnering closely with customers to translate business needs into well-defined, technically sound system architectures. Your expertise, judgment, and ability to frame problems will be central to why clients trust SOE with their most challenging engineering work.

You will operate with a high degree of autonomy, guiding ambiguous problem spaces toward clear technical direction and asking the critical questions needed to reduce risk and create alignment. As a senior technical leader, you will architect multidisciplinary solutions across industries, mentor engineers, and help shape SOE’s early engagement practices to support long-term growth and technical excellence.

Key Responsibilities & Expected Outcomes:

• Lead Client Technical Engagement: Serve as the primary technical leader throughout early customer engagement, from discovery through contract close. Translate business objectives into viable system concepts that result in secured contracts and well-defined projects with managed risk
• Architect Systems for Value: Drive the requirements discovery, analysis, and negotiation process. Leverage divergent thinking to explore the solution space and convergent thinking to define and champion a robust system architecture that delivers mutual value for both the client and the firm
• Drive Cross-Functional Alignment: Lead collaboration across engineering disciplines during early engagement, ensuring clear alignment and effective handoff from architecture to detailed development
• Champion Organizational Growth: Act as a force multiplier within the engineering organization by mentoring technical staff, establishing systems and processes that elevate our capabilities, and fostering a culture of curiosity and continuous improvement
• Own the Outcome: Be accountable for the technical success of early engagements. Partner with Business Development to make data-driven decisions that balance near-term execution with long-term strategy

Key Requirements & Qualifications:

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Physics, or Mathematics is required; a graduate degree in a relevant engineering discipline is highly preferred
• Experience: 15+ years of engineering experience in client-facing roles, system architecture, or senior technical leadership, with a track record of delivering complex systems involving custom electronics
• Domain Expertise: Demonstrated ability to not only analyze and deconstruct novel and complex problems within a core domain, but also to evaluate and make critical judgments about different technical solutions and approaches.
• Systems Engineering Mastery: Deep experience applying systems engineering principles in ambiguous, early-stage environments, including requirements development, trade studies, and architecture definition
• Strategic Leadership: Proven ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to diverse audiences, including senior client stakeholders. Demonstrated experience acting as a trusted technical advisor externally and a mentor and leader internally

Benefits:

• Compensation range of $176,090-$209,110 + equity incentive plan
• Flexible work hours and work from home policy 
• 100% employer-paid health insurance (Medical, Dental, Vision) for employees + 50% dependent coverage
• Unlimited paid time off policy, 11x paid company holidays, 12x paid sick days
• 401(k) retirement account and employer matching (Safe Harbor 4%)
• Generous paid parental leave
• Relocation assistance available if 50+ miles away from the office
• Daily catered lunches, snacks, and accessible kitchen

About SOE: 
Second Order Effects (SOE) is an engineering consulting firm that specializes in electrical, electromechanical, and embedded systems. Founded in 2016, SOE has grown from a 3-person operation to a team of over 40 members across offices in El Segundo, California and Redmond, Washington. Over the last nine years, we have completed over 250 projects and serviced over 100 different customers. Our designs control rocket engines, manage satellite communications, instrument fusion reactors, and are enjoyed by consumers around the world. The only thing we won’t build are weapons.

Second Order Effects practices a “first principles approach” to technical problems. We break down complex challenges to their most fundamental components. This enables us to find solutions across industries, use cases, and engineering functions. 

As an engineering consulting firm, we focus on solving the right problems and building teams to take them on. Going beyond just resolving tough issues, we want to answer impactful questions. 

Additional Requirements:

• Applicant must be willing to work 40 hours a week on-site in Redmond, Washington, USA
• Applicant must be eligible to work on export controlled projects
• Job Type: Full-time (Salary)

Export Control Requirements:
To conform with U.S. Government export control regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide sponsorship at this time.

If you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply!
Second Order Effects is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SOE is governed on the basis of excellence and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status.