Senior Systems & Acoustics Engineer

Position Description

Job Title: Senior Systems and Acoustic Engineer 
Job Location: Lake Oswego, OR (On-Site) 
Position Status: Full-time 
Reports to: EVP of Product Innovation & Quality 
Department: Engineering 
FLSA Status: Exempt

About the Job

Are you passionate about aviation, technology, product quality, and manufacturing excellence? Do you thrive in a hands-on, cross-functional environment where you will serve as the senior technical authority for product architecture, acoustic performance, system integration, and next-generation technology development? Lightspeed Aviation is seeking a Senior Systems & Acoustics Engineer to support premium aviation headset products and service operations.

Under the direction of the EVP Product Innovation & Quality this position is responsible for defining and evaluating product architectures, developing acoustic technologies and methodologies, and ensuring that hardware, software, mechanical, and user-experience elements work together as a cohesive system. The role drives the technical feasibility, architecture definition, and performance optimization of future Lightspeed products while helping translate customer needs into innovative, differentiated solutions.

Nature & Scope

This position operates as a senior technical contributor with broad influence across product development activities. The role requires deep expertise in acoustics, audio systems, signal paths, transducers, analog and digital audio design, system architecture, and engineering trade-off analysis. The engineer works closely with embedded software engineers, DSP engineers, product management, contract development teams, industrial design resources, and manufacturing partners. The position serves as a key technology leader responsible for identifying technical risks early, evaluating emerging technologies, and helping establish long-term product platforms.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Define and maintain system architectures, technical requirements, and performance budgets for current and future Lightspeed product platforms.
• Lead the design, analysis, optimization, and validation of acoustic systems, audio signal paths, transducers, microphones, and communication technologies to deliver industry-leading user experiences.
• Conduct system-level trade studies and technical feasibility assessments to evaluate technologies, architectures, components, and design approaches that support product and business objectives.
• Research, prototype, and mature new technologies, concepts, and algorithms that enable future products, competitive differentiation, and intellectual property development.
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to internal and external engineering teams throughout product development, ensuring alignment between system requirements, architecture decisions, implementation, and verification activities.
• Characterize and analyze complete product performance through modeling, simulation, laboratory testing, and field evaluation while identifying technical risks and recommending mitigation strategies.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Acoustic Engineering, Physics, Computer Engineering, or related discipline. 
• Minimum 7 years of relevant product development experience.

• Demonstrated experience designing and analyzing complete audio systems.
• Strong systems engineering background.
• Experience defining product architectures from concept through production.

Preferred Qualifications

• M.S. or Ph.D. in Acoustics, Electrical Engineering, Audio Engineering, or related field.
• Active Noise Reduction (ANR/ANC) experience.
• Headset, headphone, aviation audio, hearing protection, or communication systems experience.
• Audio Precision, CLIO, Klippel, MATLAB, COMSOL, or similar tools.
• DSP and embedded systems familiarity.
• Patent development experience.
• Human factors and psychoacoustics experience.

Required Skills and Attributes

• Exceptional analytical and systems-thinking abilities.
• Deep understanding of end-to-end audio systems.
• Strong communication and technical leadership skills.
• Ability to balance technical performance, risk, cost, manufacturability, and schedule.
• Strong innovation mindset and track record of solving difficult technical problems.
• Ability to influence without direct authority.

• Results-driven and highly collaborative.

Why Lightspeed Aviation:

• Join a company where quality, engineering, manufacturing, and service teams work closely together to build aviation products that improve the pilot experience and help protect lives.
• Competitive salary and benefits, including health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, and professional development opportunities.
• A flexible, collaborative environment where cross-functional work is visible, practical, and directly connected to product quality and customer experience.
• Opportunities for personal and professional growth while supporting products that combine aviation safety, audio performance, and customer-focused innovation.
• This position is based in Lake Oswego, Oregon, and is on-site.  Relocation is not offered for this position.
• The range for this position is based on experience and the range is $130,000 to $170,000 depending on experience.
• U.S. Work Authorization & Sponsorship: Employer will not sponsor visas for position.

Work Environment

• Ability to lift 10 lbs. frequently and up to 50 lbs. periodically
• Stand or sit for long periods
• Perform tasks (that may be repetitive) that require reaching, pushing, pulling, kneeling, walking, stooping and/or bending
• Work in an environment that generates OSHA permissible machine noise levels
• Use tools that require fine hand skills
• Visually, observe and differentiate small moving parts
• Must be able and willing to travel domestically and internationally by air, rail, and automobile as required up to 10%.

Lightspeed Aviation is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.  Lightspeed Aviation is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. For more information about your rights, please review the EEOC “Know Your Rights” poster: https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRights6.12.pdf. If you need reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please notify your recruiter.

Lightspeed Aviation is a leading manufacturer of premium aviation headsets and helmet products. Since the first product was introduced in 1996 at AirVenture in Oshkosh, WI., the company has established a reputation for leading innovation in the aviation headset marketplace with a number of “first to market” advances, technologies, and features. In 2022, the company launched a new category of aviation products. Layering life-saving technologies on top of their award-winning audio and ANR platform, Lightspeed ushered in a new era of aviation safety. With this, the company continues to live its mission of “creating products that protect and save lives”. Additionally, Lightspeed is a passionate supporter of initiatives to encourage the next generation of pilots through its support of programs like Young Eagles and Ray Scholars. The company is proud to have participated in helping countless young people experience everything from a discovery flight to getting a Pilot Certificate.