Applications Engineer - Fiber Optics

FOC Acquisitions•Sterling, MA

3d•$95,000 - $105,000

About The Position

Connexis Group is seeking an Applications Engineer specializing in fiber optics. This customer-facing technical-commercial role converts customer problems and early-stage opportunities into technically viable, manufacturable, and commercially attractive fiber-optic solutions. Working alongside the Inside Sales team, the engineer engages with customer engineering and R&D teams to understand applications, define requirements, assess feasibility, and move opportunities toward prototype, RFQ, qualification, and production. The role serves as a technical bridge between customers and internal engineering and manufacturing teams.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, physics, optics, photonics, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
Technical experience with optical fibers and fiber assemblies; fused fiber bundles and light guides; illumination systems and optical coupling; optical power handling; laser- and LED-based systems; numerical aperture, wavelength, and transmission; medical-device illumination and imaging; sensors, spectroscopy, and semiconductor optical systems; industrial photonics; and optical component integration.
Ability to communicate directly with customer engineers, R&D teams, and technical decision-makers.
Ability to make practical technical judgments in early-stage situations with incomplete requirements.
Understanding of the relationship between design choices, manufacturing capability, cost, and scalability.
Strong written communication, organization, and sense of urgency.

Nice To Haves

Experience in medical devices, semiconductor equipment, sensing, spectroscopy, industrial optics, or similar markets is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

Participate in customer discovery and technical meetings with the Inside Sales Lead.
Understand customer applications, system architecture, performance requirements, environmental conditions, interfaces, volumes, and qualification requirements.
Ask technical questions to determine whether opportunities fit current or adjacent capabilities.
Help customers turn early concepts or incomplete specifications into actionable technical requirements.
Evaluate technical fit and identify applicable products, fiber types, optical configurations, and manufacturing platforms.
Recommend preliminary technical approaches and identify customization or development needs.
Evaluate optical performance considerations, including wavelength, numerical aperture, transmission, coupling, geometry, power handling, and environmental requirements.
Identify technical risks and missing information, coordinating complex reviews with plant engineering and operations.
Convert technical discussions into complete, quotable requirements and RFQs.
Develop or review technical assumptions supporting quotations and coordinate drawings, specifications, or preliminary designs as needed.
Coordinate prototypes, samples, and development builds, and help establish technical success criteria.
Support testing, qualification, failure analysis, and iterative design adjustments through production approval.
Partner with the Inside Sales Lead throughout the opportunity lifecycle and participate in targeted customer and prospect discussions.
Provide timely technical responses to maintain commercial momentum and help overcome technical objections during the quote-to-close process.
Identify additional applications, programs, and engineering contacts while engaging with customers.
Work with manufacturing, quality, and engineering to balance performance, manufacturability, cost, and scalability.
Document repeatable applications, technical solutions, lessons learned, and reference designs.
Identify product-platform opportunities that can be leveraged across multiple customers and markets.
Provide customer and market feedback to inform product and process development.