Principal Optical Engineer

RTX•McKinney, TX

6d•$107,500 - $204,500•Onsite

About The Position

The Airborne & Ground Optics Department at Raytheon develops advanced Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) and laser products and solutions for customer missions. The organization supports programs throughout the product lifecycle, from concept and design through development, integration, production, and sell-off. This role contributes to precision EO/IR and High Energy Laser systems that provide situational awareness and tactical advantage. The Principal Optical Engineer applies optical design expertise to advanced airborne and ground-based imagers, passive and active EO/IR systems, high energy lasers, LADARs, and specialized test equipment. The engineer supports optical design, analysis, development, testing, and delivery; creates optical drawings and works with vendors on custom components; and may manage small to moderate projects. The role also involves opto-mechanical alignment, modeling and simulation, tolerancing, test-equipment assembly, troubleshooting, and support for product tests and demonstrations. This is an onsite position in McKinney, Texas. The role requires U.S. citizenship and an active, existing DoD Secret security clearance after the first day.

Requirements

A STEM degree and at least 8 years of relevant experience, or an advanced degree in a related field and at least 5 years of experience.
Experience with optical design and analysis software such as CodeV, Zemax OpticStudio, or TracePro, including developing macros or scripts.
Experience with optical alignment, testing, and manufacturing methods, including component inspection, cleaning, bonding, and cleanroom use.
Experience with EO/IR/laser system integration, troubleshooting, and laser characterization, including beam quality, wavefront error, and noise.
Experience with data reduction and analysis, including error analysis.
Experience with optical component inspection, cleaning, and bonding.
Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government-issued security clearance; U.S. citizenship is required.
An active and existing security clearance is required after day 1.

Nice To Haves

An advanced degree in Optics Sciences or Optics Engineering.
Experience in a customer-facing role.
Experience writing test, assembly, and calibration procedures.
Experience writing and portion-marking classified documents in a proprietary environment.
Experience with structural, thermal, and optical performance modeling and analysis.
Experience with opto-mechanical tolerancing.
Experience with nonsequential optical analysis.
Experience modeling optomechanical systems in CREO.
Familiarity with mechanical design processes.
Experience working with high-power lasers.
Proficiency in a scientific programming language such as MATLAB or Python.
Proficiency with laser characterization tests, including beam quality, wavefront-error, and laser-noise measurements.
Existing security clearance.

Responsibilities

Design, test, and deliver capabilities for precision EO/IR and High Energy Laser systems.
Support the design, analysis, and development of airborne and ground-based imagers, passive and active EO/IR systems, high energy lasers, LADARs, and specialized test equipment.
Apply optical design, tolerancing, and performance-analysis principles to develop advanced capabilities.
Create optical drawings and collaborate with vendors on custom components.
Occasionally manage small to moderate projects, including planning, scheduling, documentation, and progress communications.
Perform critical opto-mechanical alignments.
Support optical design tasks, including modeling, simulation, and tolerancing.
Assemble optical and laser diagnostic test equipment.
Test and troubleshoot laser and optical assemblies.
Support product tests and demonstrations.