Principal Optical Engineer

QuEra Computing, Inc. • Boston, MA

68d

About The Position

The Hardware Engineering Group at QuEra Computing is seeking strong candidates for a Principal Optical Engineer to serve as a senior individual contributor to the company’s mission of building state-of-the-art, manufacturable, and deployable neutral atom quantum computers. The Hardware Engineering Group plays a crucial role in accelerating the company’s technology leadership and translating the company’s scientific breakthroughs into products delivered to customers. To accomplish this mission, we are looking to hire a candidate with graduate-level education in optics, optical engineering, or applied physics with industry experience in an enterprise engineering environment. The ideal candidate will combine a deep, fundamental understanding of several areas of optics, design, and engineering. Although candidates with a Ph.D. in physics may be considered, applicants should ensure they have sufficient professional experience beyond academia in an enterprise engineering environment to establish themselves independently as a Principal-level engineer.

Requirements

• Master's degree in optics, optical engineering, applied physics, or a closely related field
• 10-15 years non-academic work experience. Experience at an enterprise scale as well as startup preferred
• Deep experience and knowledge of free-space optics, lens design, fiber optics, lasers, optical system characterization and testing, and opto-mechanics
• Experience bringing complex optical systems from concept to production
• Expertise with using Mechanical CAD software (e.g. Inventor, Solidworks), Product Data Management (PDM) software, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software
• Expertise with Optical simulation software (e.g. Zemax)

Nice To Haves

• Experience with quantum computing, especially neutral atom
• Professional work experience in commercial product development and off-site product deployment at customer premises

Responsibilities

• Optical module design and development
• Work with physicists to understand requirements and architect optical systems, sub-systems, modules, and components to support QuEra’s neutral atom computers through the full development lifecycle (R&D, productization, maintenance, and beyond)
• Technically lead an interdisciplinary team of engineers (optical, electronic, mechanical, etc.) through the product development process to take an optical module from early phase concept through to implementation and production
• Advance state-of-the-art engineering practices at QuEra through independent research, problem-solving, and continuous improvement initiatives
• Coordinate closely with the R&D/science team to enable cutting-edge R&D and translate scientific advances into the next generation of products
• Troubleshoot technical issues at company headquarters and off-site installations at customer locations (in coordination with local support team)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Master's degree
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees