--- title: 'Systems Engineer at Salient Motion' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/systems-engineer-salient-motion-torrance-9b04t83yb6wr' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-08' --- # Systems Engineer at Salient Motion - **Company:** Salient Motion - **Location:** Torrance, CA - **Posted:** 2026-08-19 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-08 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/salientmotion/jobs/5396333008 ## Job description ## Who We Are We are pioneering modular motion technologies to power the next generation of innovation for Industrial, Aerospace and Defense. If you're excited about disrupting legacy industries and building systems that fly, let's chat! We are at the forefront of innovation, crafting exclusive motion control components that propel the aerospace and defense sectors into the future. A couple other things: - We offer a lot of autonomy - We like to run lean for impact - We have great benefits - We are well funded, and already generating revenue - We just moved into a new large hangar facility in Hawthorne, CA What you'll do: - Author, maintain, and trace system-level requirements in JAMA. Coordinate with discipline leads to ensure downstream requirements are properly allocated and tracked to closure. - Develop and maintain systems engineering deliverables required for formal design reviews (PDR, CDR) and customer submittals — including interface control documents, system descriptions, and requirements verification matrices. - Maintain traceability between verification activities, test results, and requirements artifacts. Compile and organize evidence into customer data report packages and certification submittals. - Maintain and decompose lower-level work items in the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS). Communicate status and flag risks to the SE Lead and program management. - Facilitate and document engineering working sessions, design reviews, and cross-functional syncs. Own action item tracking and follow-up. - Serve as a daily coordination point between systems, hardware, software, and mechanical engineering — translating requirements into actionable engineering inputs and surfacing integration risks early. What you need: - Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering, Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, or a closely related engineering discipline. - 2+ years of systems or product engineering experience. Meaningful university project work — competition teams, capstone programs, or complex multi-disciplinary collaborations — counts. - Demonstrated ability to understand how subsystems interact and how requirements flow from the system level down to hardware and software. - Strong written communication. Comfortable authoring clear, structured technical documents that others will rely on. - Able to manage multiple open threads simultaneously, track action items to closure, and keep stakeholders informed without being asked. Nice to have: - Familiarity with requirements management tools (JAMA, DOORS, or equivalent). - Exposure to formal design review processes (PDR, CDR) in an aerospace, defense, or complex hardware context. - Coursework or project experience in systems engineering methodology (V-model, MBSE, functional decomposition). - Genuine interest in applying Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) practices — using structured modeling to capture architecture, behavior, and interface definitions for motion control and electromechanical systems. Hands-on MBSE experience is a plus; curiosity and willingness to develop these skills matter more. - Prior internship or co-op in aerospace, defense, or hardware product development. What we have to offer: We are not just building components. We are reshaping the future of the Aerospace and Defense component industry, which is a $300B+ market! Come join us and help build next generation systems that will make a massive impact at global scale. - Salary Range: $130,000-$150,000, plus equity and benefits at a well-funded, fast-moving startup - We offer competitive compensation + equity - Exceptional healthcare benefits, Medical is 100% covered by the company - Flexible PTO - 401K - More to come! ## About Salient Motion ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Salient Motion designs and manufactures critical electromechanical actuation systems for commercial aviation and defense, replacing legacy supply chains with modular, software-defined motion control. - **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage) - **Headquarters**: Torrance, California, USA - **Founded**: 2022 - **Founders**: Vishaal Mali (CEO) ## Core Business - **Primary Industry**: Aviation and Aerospace Component Manufacturing, Defense - **Target Customers**: OEMs (e.g., Boeing), MROs, and defense contractors for commercial airliners and military platforms (B2B, Enterprise) - **Mission**: To change the paradigm of legacy aerospace and defense supply chains, unlocking a new era of speed, innovation, and possibility. ## Products & Services - **Critical Actuation Systems**: Advanced electromechanical actuators (linear and rotary) for flight control, landing gear, and other mission-critical functions on commercial and military aircraft. - **Software-First Architecture**: A modular, software-defined actuation platform that decouples control logic from hardware. Core motor control software is certified to DO-178C standards as a reusable library, enabling rapid configuration and validation across platforms. - **Certification Services**: Certification-centric engineering built from day one, aiming for up to 10x reductions in cost and lead time for certifiable products. - **Support & Sustainment**: Direct, fast, and personal support for integration, troubleshooting, and sustainment of actuation systems. ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: Not disclosed - **Key Metric**: Total Funding of **$4.0M** (Seed round led by Cantos VC in October 2024, with participation from AE Ventures and Ian Rountree; a Pre-Seed round occurred in November 2022) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Cantos (Lead), AE Ventures, Ian Rountree. Key customer/partner: **Boeing** (collaborating on certifying modular actuators for commercial airliners). - **Growth Signals**: Headcount of ~30 employees with +15.2% monthly growth; talent sourced from Anduril Industries, Boeing, Virgin Galactic, and other top aerospace/defense firms; active job postings increasing +200% month-over-month; expansion to a second office in Irvine, CA. ## Competitive Advantages - **Software-First Modularity**: Their core differentiator is a software-defined architecture that is certified as a reusable library (DO-178C). This allows for rapid, low-cost configuration for different aircraft platforms, offering a 10x improvement in lead time and cost over legacy suppliers. - **Vertically Integrated Supply Chain**: Streamlined engineering workflows and vertically integrated partnerships enable delivery of actuator systems in weeks, not quarters. - **Certification-First Approach**: All systems are designed with certification in mind from day one, drastically reducing the time and cost to achieve airworthiness. - **Legacy Disruption**: They offer a direct alternative to high-cost, slow-moving legacy OEM suppliers, providing certified solutions without overhead markup. ## Strategic Focus - **Scale Production**: Moving from design and prototyping to manufacturing and delivery at scale, as evidenced by hiring for Senior Manufacturing Engineer and Quality Manager roles. - **Expand Customer Base**: Deepening the partnership with Boeing while expanding to other commercial and defense OEMs. - **Domestic Supply Chain**: Developing motors and inverters using domestic resources to meet national security imperatives. - **Platform Development**: Refining their core "electric motion operating system," including standalone inverters, web-based configuration platforms, and performant motors. ## Why Work Here - **High-Impact Work**: Employees solve some of the hardest motion control challenges in aerospace and defense, with work that directly impacts millions of daily passengers. - **Culture**: Described as a high-velocity environment emphasizing "Extreme Entrepreneurship," "Execution Over Excuses," and "Mastery Over Ego." The culture values ownership, creativity, and a relentless focus on execution. - **Strong Talent Pool**: Team includes veterans from Anduril, Boeing, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX, providing a steep learning curve and high-performance peer group. - **Work Policy**: **In-Office** (Torrance, CA and Irvine, CA). The company explicitly values in-person collaboration. - **Growth Trajectory**: Early-stage (Seed) with rapid headcount growth, offering significant upside and career acceleration for early employees. ## Sources 1. [salientmotion.com](https://salientmotion.com/) 2. [salientmotion.com](https://salientmotion.com/careers) 3. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/salient-motion) 4. 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