Principal Laser & Optical Project Engineer - Photonic Modules

Monarch Quantum•San Diego, CA

19d

About The Position

Monarch Quantum is seeking a Principal Laser & Optical Project Engineer to serve as the senior technical authority for laser and photonic modules powering its quantum systems. The role will establish optical architecture and lead module programs from development through production, while shaping how optical hardware is designed, qualified, and scaled across the company. It is a hands-on role in a fast-growing startup environment, working closely with executive leadership and building engineering practices and foundations for the company’s hardware roadmap. The engineer will set technical direction for the photonics module portfolio, establish performance budgets, guide cross-domain trade-offs, and resolve difficult performance, yield, and reliability issues. The role will also establish design-for-excellence practices, scalable assembly and alignment processes, and supplier strategies, while leading cross-functional programs through schedule, budget, technical risk, reviews, and executive reporting.

Requirements

MS or PhD in Optics, Photonics, Physics, or a closely related field.
Deep expertise in laser physics or applied optics.
10+ years of industry experience developing laser, photonic, or optoelectronic hardware, including several years as the technical lead for modules or subsystems.
Shipped multiple laser-based or photonic products from prototype through qualification into sustained volume production.
Deep hands-on design-for-excellence experience, including DFM, DFA, DFT, DFR, and design-to-cost, applied to optical or opto-mechanical packaging.
Expertise in opto-mechanical design, including tolerancing, alignment sensitivity, thermal and CTE effects, and attachment and packaging methods.
Track record of leading complex cross-functional programs while owning schedule, budget, and technical risk.
Demonstrated influence beyond individual projects, such as setting standards, mentoring engineers, or shaping product or technology roadmaps.
Must be a U.S. person as defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3), because the position requires access to export-controlled information.

Nice To Haves

Experience with narrow-linewidth, frequency-stabilized, or NIR/visible/UV lasers.
Experience with fiber-coupled modules, free-space micro-optics, or hermetic packaging.
Experience with reliability qualification, such as Telcordia GR-468 or equivalent, and statistical process control.
Experience scaling hardware at a startup or early-stage company and building processes from scratch.
Patents, publications, or recognized technical contributions in lasers or photonic packaging.

Responsibilities

Set optical and opto-mechanical architecture for the photonics module portfolio, including source selection, beam shaping and delivery, fiber coupling, alignment strategy, and wavelength, power, and polarization stability.
Own performance budgets connecting modules to system requirements, including optical, tolerance, thermal, and mechanical stability budgets.
Make and defend trade-offs across optical, mechanical, electrical, and thermal domains, and influence system-level architecture and build-versus-buy decisions.
Serve as the final technical escalation point for performance, yield, and reliability problems, from laser physics through assembly processes.
Establish design-for-excellence practices—including manufacturability, assembly, test, reliability, and cost—from the concept stage of photonic module programs.
Define scalable assembly and alignment processes, including active and passive alignment, attachment methods, and hermetic or environmental sealing.
Drive design and process changes to improve first-pass yield, cycle time, and unit cost, and own the business case for those changes.
Lead strategies for critical laser, optical, and opto-mechanical suppliers, including qualification, second-sourcing, cost reduction, and joint technical development.
Own integrated program plans, phase-gate deliverables, and budgets; manage critical paths and raise risks early.
Lead cross-functional teams across optics, mechanical, electrical, process, test, quality, and supply chain, primarily through influence.
Run design and gate reviews and drive decisions to closure with clear, documented rationale.
Report program status, metrics, and key decisions to executive leadership.