Photonics Engineer - Fiber Amplifiers, Satellites (Starlink)

SpaceX • Redmond, WA

9h • $105,000 - $175,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Starlink is the world’s largest satellite constellation and the leading global satellite internet provider. The laser communications team develops the high-power optical links that interconnect Starlink satellites enabling a high-throughput, low-latency global network. This role focuses on the fiber amplifier systems that are central to those links: high-performance, high-reliability amplifiers that must operate in the extreme thermal, radiation, and vacuum environment of space.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in physics, optics, electrical engineering, or other engineering/STEM discipline
• 2+ years of hands-on laboratory or work experience in fiber-based optical systems/networks, integrated photonics chips, or fiber laser technology (university lab, student project, or internship experience qualifies)
• 1+ years of experience in a computer programming language (e.g. C++, MATLAB, and/or Python)

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree or PhD in physics or an engineering discipline
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in engineering capacity in the field of fiber amplifiers, laser systems, or opto-electronics.
• Hands-on experience in fiber amplifier design, integration, and test
• Experience with high-power fiber system design, mitigation of non-linearities, and thermal management
• Hands-on experience with optical pump lasers, fiber combiners, filters, and large-mode-area (LMA) fiber, electro-optic modulators.
• Competence with fiber optics processing and handling (cleaving, stripping, splicing, recoating, glass processing, etc.)
• Experience with characterizing fiber laser systems using optical test equipment (power meters, spectral analyzers, high-speed photodiodes, oscilloscopes, laser sources, beam profilers)
• Knowledge of and experience in precision metrology techniques, manufacturing and integration processes
• Experience leading the development of commercial photonics products
• Experience with hardware development for high-reliability applications
• Competence with Python scripting and a Linux operating system environment
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, autonomously driven, and demanding atmosphere
• Ability to assess risk and make design and development decisions without all available data
• Experience with laser safety best practices
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Responsibilities

• Own the development of fiber amplifier systems for laser communications, including requirements definition, system design and analysis, and design validation.
• Conduct validation and verification testing, including environmental qualification (thermal, TVAC, and radiation considerations), performance characterization, reliability testing, and fault injection testing
• Work closely with manufacturing and supply chain teams to ensure final designs can be manufactured in accordance with overall project goals
• Represent the photonic system in program-level, cross-disciplinary trades and issue resolution
• Lead optical architecture definition through internal trade studies, concept of operations definition, and risk reduction testing
• Lead anomaly investigations through to resolution.
• Maintain link budgets, design specifications, and system capabilities data.
• Collaborate with software and automation teams to develop tools and protocols for automated tested of fiber amplifier systems.
• Represent laser communications systems for reliability and risk discussions with internal reliability teams, management, customers, and vendors.

Benefits

• long-term incentives, in the form of company stock or long-term cash awards
• potential discretionary bonuses
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage
• 401(k) retirement plan
• short and long-term disability insurance
• life insurance
• paid parental leave
• various other discounts and perks
• 3 weeks of paid vacation
• 10 or more paid holidays per year
• paid sick time in compliance with state and federal law
• Company shuttles are offered to employees for roundtrip travel from select Seattle locations to the SpaceX Redmond office Monday to Friday.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level