Senior Solutions Engineer in California at OKSI

About OKSI
Opto-Knowledge Systems, Inc. (OKSI) designs and builds EO/IR sensor systems, autonomous platforms, and modeling and simulation technology that give warfighters a decisive edge. We're a small, fast-moving team where your work reaches the field in months, not years.

The Senior Solutions Engineer is the technical lead for OKSI's business development team, bridging engineering and business development. This person brings deep technical fluency in OKSI's passive EO/IR seekers, terminal guidance systems for precision-guided munitions, and AI-enabled sensing for counter-UAS and autonomous platforms directly into the sales process. The Senior Solutions Engineer leads the technical side of OKSI's most important pursuits, turns customer requirements and CONOPS into solutions OKSI can build, test, and deliver, and leads and develops the Solutions Engineering team.

What You'll Do

Technical Pursuit Leadership: Serve as the senior technical voice for the business development team on major pursuits, from first contact through award. Give an honest read on technical fit, risk, and what it will take to win, so the team chases the right opportunities.

Requirements & CONOPS Translation: Turn mission needs, CONOPS, and requirements into solutions OKSI engineering can build on schedule and at a cost the company can stand behind. Tie the technical approach to how the customer plans to fight, including threat sets, engagement timelines, and operating environments.

Demonstrations & Customer Engagement: Plan and deliver live demonstrations, proofs of concept, and technical briefings at OKSI, customer sites, test ranges, and industry events. Explain OKSI technology in plain terms to operators and acquisition leaders, and in full technical depth to engineers and scientists.

Proposals & Technical Writing: Lead the technical volumes of proposals, including SBIR/STTR, OTA, white paper, and RFI/RFP responses. Write capability statements, technical approaches, statements of work, and test plans that are accurate, specific, and easy for evaluators to score.

Test & Evaluation Support: Help shape test events so they prove what the customer needs proven, and help translate test results into clear findings for government decision makers. ? Team Leadership: Lead, train, and mentor the Solutions Engineer. Build reusable demonstration kits, briefing material, and technical content for the business development team, and keep technical pursuit records current in the CRM.

Market & Competitive Insight: Track competitor products, emerging technologies, and lessons from current conflicts, and use them to position OKSI. Bring customer feedback back to engineering and program teams to shape products and roadmaps.

Knowledge, Skills, and Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience combining a technical or engineering background with customer-facing, operational, or requirements work for defense customers. Experience in solutions engineering, sales engineering, or business development preferred.
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Optical, Aerospace, Mechanical, or Computer Engineering, or in Physics, required. Graduate degree preferred.
• Strong technical understanding of EO/IR sensors, precision weapons and guidance, and small UAS and autonomous platforms.
• Working understanding of military CONOPS and current warfare, including small UAS, counter-UAS, loitering munitions, and precision fires.
• Ability to speak programmatics, including how requirements, SBIR/STTR, OTAs, programs of record, budgets, technology readiness levels, and test events fit together.
• Proven ability to translate warfighter needs into technical requirements for engineers and acquisition organizations, and to explain complex technical concepts to nontechnical audiences.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with experience authoring technical content such as proposals, white papers, or requirements packages.
• Working knowledge of DoD requirements, acquisition processes, and government contracting.
• Experience leading or mentoring engineers, operators, or technical staff.
• Ability to support customers across all services, including Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and SOCOM.
• Highly organized and capable of managing competing priorities across several pursuits at once.
• Self-starter able to work independently in a fully remote role and collaboratively with engineering, program, and business development teams.
• Proficiency in CRM tools and data-driven customer relationship management.
• U.S. person status (export control requirement).
• Willingness & ability to travel up to 30% to customer sites, test ranges, trade shows, and OKSI headquarters.
• You must have, or be eligible to obtain, a Department of Defense Secret clearance. You will be subject to government security investigations and must be able to access classified information. The inability to obtain a security clearance will result in you being ineligible for the position.
• A valid Driver’s License

Preferred Qualifications

• Active or reinstatable Department of Defense Secret clearance or higher (TS/SCI preferred).
• Experience in technology sales, solutions engineering, or business development.
• Experience with AI/ML applied to sensor data, or hyperspectral imaging.
• Experience with seekers, guidance, navigation and control, terminal guidance, or passive ranging.
• Military service or direct experience supporting operational units such as fires, air defense, or special operations.
• Hands-on experience developing tactics or supporting testing at government test ranges, proving grounds, or weapons schools.
• Experience supporting proposal capture using Shipley or a similar process.
• Experience working in an ITAR or export-controlled environment.

Compensation & Benefits

• $140,000 - $180,000 annually. New hires are typically brought into the organization at a salary between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint depending on qualifications and the budget allocated for this role.
• Medical, dental, vision fully paid by the employer for the employee
• Three weeks' vacation
• Company contribution to 401K – 5% of earned wages (no matching required)
• Educational assistance

We are an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other status protected by law.

We provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities in the application and hiring process. The person hired will have access to information and items subject to U.S. export controls, and therefore, must either be a "U.S. person" as defined by 22 C.F.R.

This employer participates in E-Verify.