Technical Project Lead

Technical Project Lead

Seek Thermal Santa Barbara, California, United States

Description:

As a Technical Project Lead (TPL) at Seek Thermal, you will own the technical critical path of one or more new-product programs - the chain of design decisions, integrations, and verifications that determines whether the product works and ships. You will be accountable for design outputs, design reviews, and technical trade-offs - working alongside program management while coordinating engineering across electrical, mechanical, software/firmware, optics, and systems to bring LWIR thermal imaging products from concept through production.

The Technical Project Lead will report directly to the SVP of Engineering.

This is not a remote Position

• The Technical Project Lead will own the technical critical path of new product development (NPD) programs through phase gates (concept through DV, PV, and production release) - know at all times which technical task gates the program, and keep the multidisciplinary team focused on it.
• Ensure design outputs and design-review materials are complete and defensible at every gate, and provide the technical readiness signal for gate sign-off.
• Make and document technical trade-offs (e.g., image quality, runtime, cost, architecture), with cross-functional approval for scope and design changes.
• Identify technical risks early, assess their critical-path impact, and drive mitigation of technical exposure across the program.
• Assign engineering tasks, drive technical status at program meetings in step with program management, and own design documentation and approvals per Seek's design-control process.
• Drive root-cause and corrective action (8D) when sensor, manufacturing, or integration failures threaten a milestone
• Ensure PRD requirements are testable and verification is defined before design gates; pull hardware/software integration risks off the critical path early.
• Provide technical deliverables (SOWs, specifications) for supplier engagements and represent engineering with customers, change control boards, and leadership.

• The Technical Project Lead should possess hands-on embedded systems depth (e.g., RTOS debugging, multicore SoC/MPSoC platforms, I2C/SPI, MIPI CSI, hardware/software co-design) with independent technical judgment.
• Experience developing products under structured quality and development processes (e.g., functional safety, ASPICE, ISO 9001, or similar) within formal design controls.
• Fluency with phase-gate development, PRD/requirements management, DV/PV verification, 8D, RASIC, and planning tools (Jira, Smart Sheets).
• Proven technical coordinator of distributed cross-functional teams and a clear communicator - holds a technical position, escalates cleanly, and commits once decided.
• Preferred: thermal/IR imaging (FPA/ROIC, NUC/AGC, LWIR optics), automotive qualification, semiconductor packaging/yield analysis, Agile/Scrum leadership.

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Software Engineering, Mechatronics, Physics, Optical Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of engineering experience, including 2+ years owning the technical critical path of embedded hardware/software programs, with at least one shipped sensing or electro-optical product taken through production.
• Must be a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual) as required by ITAR/EAR export control regulations.