---
title: 'Embedded Controls Engineer at Mesh Optical Technologies'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/embedded-controls-engineer-mesh-optical-technologies-gardena-sfd4dnp2t6kb'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# Embedded Controls Engineer at Mesh Optical Technologies

- **Company:** Mesh Optical Technologies
- **Location:** Gardena, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-02-17
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/meshopticaltechnologies/jobs/4134734009

## Job description

## EMBEDDED CONTROLS ENGINEER

Mesh Optical Technologies was founded on the belief that optical photons will be at the center of advanced technologies in the coming century. Making advanced technology ubiquitous means building at scale, and that’s exactly what we’re doing at Mesh.

Our products and factory equipment rely on real-time control systems that must be precise, stable, and fast—from thermal regulation and optical alignment loops to motion control and process automation. We are seeking an Embedded Controls Engineer who combines deep embedded programming expertise with strong controls and algorithms knowledge. You will design, implement, and tune the control systems that keep our hardware operating at the edge of its performance envelope.

## RESPONSIBILITIES

- Design, implement, and tune real-time control loops (PID, state-space, feedforward, adaptive) for thermal management, optical alignment, motion control, and process regulation across product and factory systems
- Develop embedded firmware in C/C++ for microcontrollers and DSPs, including bare-metal and RTOS-based architectures, with emphasis on deterministic timing and low-latency execution
- Model and simulate control systems to predict dynamic behavior, assess stability margins, and validate controller designs prior to hardware deployment
- Implement sensor fusion, filtering (Kalman, complementary), and signal conditioning algorithms to extract clean, actionable signals from noisy real-world measurements
- Bring up and integrate new sensors, actuators, and motor drives, defining hardware-software interfaces and writing low-level drivers (I²C, SPI, ADC, PWM, encoder interfaces)
- Develop calibration routines and self-tuning algorithms that enable production-scale deployment of control systems with unit-to-unit variation
- Instrument control systems for observability—logging, telemetry, and diagnostic interfaces that support real-time monitoring, fault detection, and post-hoc analysis
- Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, optical, and manufacturing engineering teams to co-design systems where control performance is tightly coupled to hardware design
- Support production deployment of control systems, including validation, fault handling, and graceful degradation strategies for field-deployed units
- Contribute to Python-based tooling for system identification, data analysis, simulation, and automated testing of control system performance

## QUALIFICATIONS

- Bachelor's or Master's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related discipline with coursework in control systems
- 2+ years of experience designing and implementing real-time control systems on embedded platforms
- Strong proficiency in C and/or C++ for embedded development, including experience with bare-metal and RTOS environments
- Solid foundation in classical and modern control theory, including PID tuning, frequency-domain analysis, and stability assessment
- Experience with sensor integration, actuator interfacing, and low-level peripheral drivers (I²C, SPI, ADC, PWM, encoders)
- Proficiency in Python or MATLAB for modeling, simulation, data analysis, and test automation
- Strong debugging skills across hardware and software boundaries, including use of oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and serial debug interfaces
- Ability to work independently in fast-moving, cross-functional environments
- Willingness to work extended hours and weekends as needed

## PREFERRED EXPERIENCE

- Experience with advanced control techniques: state-space controllers, LQR/LQG, model predictive control (MPC), adaptive control, or system identification methods
- Experience with motion control systems, including stepper and servo motor drives, trajectory planning, and encoder feedback
- Experience with thermal control systems, including multi-zone regulation and transient thermal management
- Familiarity with optical or photonic systems where control loops manage alignment, power regulation, or wavelength tuning
- Experience with FPGA-based control implementations or high-speed digital control loops
- Experience with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing and simulation environments
- Background in robotics, precision mechatronics, or semiconductor equipment
- Experience deploying control systems at production scale, including calibration, self-test, and fault recovery for high-volume manufactured products
- Familiarity with version control (Git), CI/CD pipelines, and collaborative embedded development workflows

## COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Pay range: Embedded Controls Engineer: $140,000.00 - $170,000.00/per year

Title and base salary are determined on a case by case basis commensurate with experience and merit.

In addition to base salary, compensation for this role includes:

- Eligibility for long-term incentives including company stock options and discretionary bonuses awarded for exceptional achievements.
- Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental insurance with significant cost covered by the company for yourself and dependents.
- Paid parental leave and flexible PTO (3 weeks accrued vacation and 10 company holidays per year).
- 401(k) retirement plan access.
- Relocation assistance to sunny Los Angeles.

## About Mesh Optical Technologies

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Mesh Optical Technologies designs and manufactures advanced optical systems at scale, targeting hyperscale computing and AI infrastructure.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A - $50M led by Thrive Capital, as of February 2026)
- **Headquarters**: Los Angeles, California, United States
- **Founded**: Not publicly available
- **Founders**: Travis Brashears (Co-Founder & CEO), Cameron Ramos (Co-Founder & President)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Computer Hardware Manufacturing / Advanced Optics / Photonics
- **Target customers**: B2B – hyperscale data centers, AI compute clusters, and space-based optical communications
- **Mission or purpose**: "Advance the state of the art in optical manufacturing, closing a critical supply chain gap in hyperscale computing, and building the next generation of optical hardware on Earth and in space."

## Products & Services
- **Alpha C1 optical transceiver**: A 1.6 Terabits per second optical transceiver that linearly translates electrical signals to light. Designed for AI workloads and power-constrained data centers, it delivers better power efficiency, lower latency, and higher reliability. Its optical engine is manufactured entirely with flip chip die bonding – the same technology used to package chips in modern processors – enabling high-volume production.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of $50M (Series A, February 2026)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Thrive Capital (lead), plus two other major investors (names not specified)
- **Growth Signals**: 11 employees with 29 open job postings; 20% monthly headcount growth; team includes alumni from SpaceX, Intel, Apple, Helion, and other advanced manufacturing environments

## Competitive Advantages
- **Integrated design & manufacturing**: Unlike most photonics companies that treat manufacturing as a downstream exercise, Mesh designs and builds its own factories, closing the feedback loop between device physics, packaging, yield, and automation.
- **Flip chip die bonding**: The Alpha C1 uses a proven, high-volume chip-packaging technique, allowing rapid scaling to millions of units per year – a major departure from the manual, low-volume assembly typical of US optical manufacturing.

## Strategic Focus
- Scale production of the Alpha C1 transceiver to meet demand from AI clusters.
- Develop new high-volume optical manufacturing techniques for terrestrial and in-space infrastructure (laser links, deep space probes).
- Continue to hire across engineering, operations, and manufacturing to expand its Los Angeles-based factory and R&D capabilities.

## Why Work Here
- **Engineering culture**: "Build your own factory" – the team believes in engineering to the limit of physics and writing software that maximizes hardware capability.
- **Impact**: Opportunity to close a critical supply chain gap in US optical manufacturing and shape the next generation of computing infrastructure.
- **Work environment**: On-site in Los Angeles (two offices in the area); highly technical team with deep expertise from SpaceX, Intel, Apple, and other hardware leaders.
- **Growth**: Rapidly scaling startup with 29 open roles across electrical, mechanical, process, and manufacturing engineering, as well as operations and recruiting.

## Sources
1. [meshoptical.com](https://www.meshoptical.com/)
2. [meshoptical.com/blog](https://www.meshoptical.com/blog/introducing-mesh)
3. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/meshoptical)
4. [meshoptical.com/process](https://www.meshoptical.com/process)
5. [meshoptical.com/careers](https://www.meshoptical.com/careers-new)

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