Optical Design Engineer

Responsibilities

• Develop, analyze, and document optical architectures and detailed designs supporting space-based power beaming and other advanced optical applications.
• Build, maintain, and validate optical models using tools such as Zemax OpticStudio, Code V, FRED, ASAP, or equivalent.
• Perform optical architecture trades involving aperture, beam quality, efficiency, packaging, manufacturability, alignment sensitivity, thermal stability, and system-level performance.
• Develop and maintain optical performance budgets, including wavefront error, beam quality, transmission, pointing sensitivity, diffraction, scattering, and other mission-relevant performance metrics.
• Perform optical tolerancing, sensitivity analysis, alignment analysis, and optical error budgeting for components, assemblies, and system-level interfaces.
• Translate mission and system requirements into optical requirements, budgets, assumptions, interfaces, and verification approaches.
• Support optomechanical design maturation by defining optical surface specifications, coatings, materials, alignment datums, interfaces, inspection criteria, and optical performance requirements.
• Collaborate with mechanical engineers on optical mounts, interfaces, precision assemblies, mechanisms, and released engineering drawings.
• Perform or support STOP, thermo-optical, structural-optical, stray light, scattering, and ghost analyses.
• Evaluate the effects of thermal gradients, structural deformation, contamination, vibration, alignment errors, and other environmental conditions on optical performance.
• Work with thermal and structural engineers to incorporate analysis results into optical models and predict system performance across operational and environmental conditions.
• Develop optical error budgets and allocate performance requirements across optical, mechanical, thermal, controls, and manufacturing contributors.
• Support optical alignment planning, including alignment tolerances, datums, metrology requirements, adjustment strategies, and verification methods.
• Support optical fabrication, inspection, assembly, integration, and test activities.
• Review optical fabrication and inspection documentation, including surface figure, surface quality, coatings, materials, dimensional tolerances, and optical performance requirements.
• Develop and maintain technical documentation, including optical design reports, trade studies, analysis reports, interface control documents, requirements, performance budgets, and verification plans.
• Present optical performance, design trades, analysis results, technical risks, and recommended mitigations during internal design reviews and technical discussions.
• Participate in design reviews, hardware reviews, manufacturing reviews, integration activities, and environmental test campaigns.
• Identify opportunities to improve optical performance, reduce system complexity, decrease mass and cost, improve manufacturability, and increase reliability.
• Collaborate with manufacturing partners, optical fabricators, coating vendors, and specialty suppliers to resolve technical issues and ensure successful hardware development.
• Contribute to the development of optical engineering standards, design practices, analysis methodologies, and technical best practices.

Requirements

• Master's degree in Optical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 8+ years of professional experience in optical design, optical systems engineering, or precision optical systems development for Senior-level candidates.
• 12+ years of relevant experience preferred for Principal-level candidates.
• Demonstrated experience designing and analyzing complex optical systems using Zemax OpticStudio, Code V, FRED, ASAP, or equivalent tools.
• Strong experience with optical tolerancing, sensitivity analysis, alignment planning, and optical error budgeting.
• Strong understanding of geometric optics, physical optics, diffraction, wavefront error, scattering, and optical system performance.
• Experience developing optical systems in collaboration with mechanical engineering teams and supporting optomechanical interfaces and released engineering drawings.
• Familiarity with optical fabrication and inspection requirements, including surface figure, surface quality, coatings, materials, dimensional tolerances, and metrology.
• Experience developing technical design documentation, analysis reports, trade studies, requirements, and verification plans.
• Ability to translate system-level requirements into measurable optical performance requirements and verification methods.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to explain complex optical concepts to engineers from other disciplines.
• Demonstrated ability to independently own complex technical problems while working effectively within a multidisciplinary engineering team.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Optical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Direct experience developing spaceflight optical systems or optical payloads.
• Experience with one or more of the following:
  • Space-based optical systems
  • Directed energy systems
  • Power beaming systems
  • Beam directors
  • Laser communication terminals
  • High-energy laser systems
  • Telescopes
  • Precision pointing optical payloads
  • Free-space optical systems
• Experience with STOP analysis, thermo-optical modeling, or coupled thermal/structural-optical analysis.
• Experience using FEA or thermal analysis results to predict optical performance and alignment stability.
• Experience with stray light, scattering, ghost analysis, baffle design, or optical contamination control.
• Experience with reflective optical systems and large-aperture optics.
• Experience with fast steering mirrors, deformable optics, active alignment, precision beam steering, or beam control.
• Experience developing optical systems through design, fabrication, alignment, integration, environmental testing, qualification, and delivery.
• Experience with thermal-vacuum, vibration, shock, contamination, and other environmental qualification testing.
• Experience working with flight hardware and space qualification requirements.
• Experience working directly with optical fabricators, precision manufacturers, coating vendors, and specialty aerospace suppliers.
• Familiarity with spacecraft systems engineering, requirements management, configuration management, and verification processes.
• Experience in a fast-paced startup or NewSpace environment where requirements, designs, and engineering processes evolve rapidly.

Personal Attributes

• Strong technical judgment with the ability to identify the first-order drivers of optical performance and focus engineering effort where it matters most.
• Practical engineering mindset focused on designs that can actually be fabricated, aligned, integrated, tested, qualified, and operated.
• High technical ownership of optical models, analyses, requirements, documentation, and engineering recommendations.
• Clear communicator who can explain complex optical issues to mechanical, systems, controls, thermal, manufacturing, and program teams.
• Collaborative and multidisciplinary, with the ability to advocate for optical performance while balancing system-level requirements, cost, schedule, manufacturability, and reliability.
• Comfortable operating with ambiguity and developing practical engineering solutions in a rapidly evolving environment.
• Mentorship-oriented, with a desire to raise the technical capabilities of the broader engineering organization.