I’m a software engineer by trade, but have been a maker for a while and had a CNC machine before I bought my first laser. I’ve only owned a laser for about 4 years, and started writing LightBurn within a couple months of buying an EBay Red/Black 100w Kehui machine.
All of this to say, if you’re an EE, this should be well within your skill set. 
The machines are pretty straightforward for the most part. Mirror alignment is fussy, but it’s just geometry. There’s other domain specific stuff you’ll learn, but it’s not terribly difficult.