# Principal Chief Engineer & System Architect at Firestorm

- Company: Firestorm
- What the company does: Firestorm Labs - Democratize the fight with radically-affordable, mission-adaptable power for air, land, and sea. Backed by NEA.
- Company website: https://www.launchfirestorm.com/
- Type: Startups
- Level: Principal and up
- Location: San Diego, United States
- Work setup: On-site
- Pay: $212K to $247K base salary per year (USD)
- Posted: 2026-11-04
- Apply by: 2026-12-19
- Apply: https://jobs.gem.com/firestorm/am9icG9zdDoRzqoG-99hBbsTIMSwucXr?utm_source=1752vc&utm_medium=careers
- Page: https://www.1752.vc/careers/jobs/firestorm-principal-chief-engineer-and-system-architect/

## About the role

The posted salary range reflects an estimate based on a variety of compensation factors, including but not limited to relevant experience, education, certifications, specialized skills, geographic location, and business needs. Actual compensation may vary, and this range is subject to change as our compensation structure or market conditions evolve. Found on 1752vc Careers, the job board for startup and VC roles.

## What they're looking for

- Define delegated technical decision rights, architecture ownership, design maturity expectations, and escalation thresholds
- Review and challenge product technical risk assessments, readiness recommendations, and architectural decisions, resolve cross-product conflicts
- Guide system decomposition, hardware/software/autonomy partitioning, interfaces, performance budgets, trade studies, and architecture baselines
- Drive modular, reusable platform architectures while allowing product-specific tradeoffs
- Work with Hardware, Software, and Aero and Autonomy leaders to resolve integration issues and maintain discipline-level design ownership
- Establish lightweight, evidence-based design reviews (e.g., PDR/CDR where appropriate), technical baselines, and risk registers


Source: 1752vc Careers, https://www.1752.vc/careers/jobs/firestorm-principal-chief-engineer-and-system-architect/