Lead Engineer- Optical Coating Design

IDEX•West Henrietta, NY

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Optical Filters Group is seeking a highly motivated engineer to join our industry-leading team of optical coating designers. This role will support Semrock's mission as the Optical Coatings Design Center of Excellence and will work closely with Advanced Thin Films (ATF) and other IDEX businesses to develop innovative optical coating solutions and expand optical coating technology capabilities across the enterprise. The successful candidate will apply advanced modeling, optimization, and engineering principles to create sophisticated, manufacturable, and cost-effective optical filter designs while contributing to technology development across multiple business units and manufacturing locations. Our filter coatings are highly sophisticated, often consisting of hundreds of individual layers. Success in this role requires both strong technical and analytical skills and the ability to develop practical, manufacturable solutions. While prior thin-film design experience is highly desirable, candidates with demonstrated excellence in applying scientific and engineering principles to complex physical systems and a proven ability to learn quickly are encouraged to apply. This position will collaborate closely with engineering, manufacturing, applications, and technology teams across businesses. The role requires up to 20% travel, primarily to Colorado and other facilities as needed.

Requirements

Senior Engineer: Typically 5-10 years of relevant experience.
Lead Engineer: Typically 10-15 years of relevant experience with demonstrated technical leadership.
Relevant disciplines include: Optics, Optical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, Materials Science, Chemistry, Electrical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or other closely related scientific or engineering disciplines.
Experience with optical filters, optics, and thin-film coating design preferred; the ability to quickly learn the underlying principles is required.
Demonstrated excellence in modeling, optimization, and analysis of complex physical systems.
Ability and desire to create manufacturable, cost-effective designs that meet customer requirements.
Ability to manage multiple projects and competing priorities in a dynamic environment.
Experience applying structured problem-solving methodologies to new and complex technical challenges.
Proven ability to deliver high-quality results within schedule and budget constraints.
Strong interpersonal, communication, and collaboration skills.
Demonstrated ability to influence and drive alignment across multidisciplinary teams.
High standards of integrity, accountability, and professional conduct.
Strong motivation to learn, innovate, and contribute in a fast-paced technical environment.

Nice To Haves

Optical engineering and optical system design.
Thin-film optical coatings and their application within optical systems.
Optical component characterization and laboratory-based optical testing.
Opto-mechanics and opto-electronic systems.
Moderate- to high-power laser applications, laser systems, and laser safety.
Fluorescence microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and related optical instrumentation.
Commercial product development within engineering and manufacturing environments.
Process control, optical monitoring, metrology, spectrometry, and manufacturing process optimization.
Customer-facing technical support, requirements gathering, specification development, and technical negotiations.
Experience working across multiple sites, organizations, or functions to achieve technical objectives.
Familiarity with engineering and scientific software tools such as OptiLayer, Essential Macleod, TFCalc, Zemax, Code V, SolidWorks, Python, LabVIEW, ImageJ, or equivalent tools.
Experience developing intellectual property, including invention disclosures, patents, trade secrets, or proprietary technical methods.

Responsibilities

Design and optimize advanced optical coatings for customer and product development programs.
Work closely with Applications Engineers and Application Scientists to support customer engagements, specification development, feasibility assessments, and design estimates.
Communicate complex technical concepts and tradeoffs to team members, business stakeholders, and occasionally customers with varying levels of technical expertise.
Serve as a key technical link between product design teams and coating manufacturing operations.
Partner with engineering and manufacturing teams across businesses to deploy best practices in optical filter design, coating processes, monitoring methodologies, and metrology techniques.
Develop designs that consider both customer requirements and manufacturing capabilities to maximize yield, reproducibility, and cost effectiveness.
Contribute to the development and execution of optical coating technology roadmaps.
Develop, document, and continuously improve design methodologies, modeling approaches, and standard work.
Support the introduction of new products, technologies, and design methods into manufacturing.
Collaborate with specialists in software, modeling, process engineering, metrology, and manufacturing to enhance design capabilities and process performance.
Analyze manufacturing and metrology data to improve design robustness and long-term product performance.
Generate innovative technical solutions and contribute to the company's intellectual property portfolio through invention disclosures, patents, and proprietary design methodologies.
Interact regularly with manufacturing personnel, engineers, scientists, and business leaders to solve technical challenges and improve organizational capabilities.