Principal Optical Systems Engineer

K2 Space•Los Angeles, CA

About The Position

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by $450M from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, Redpoint Ventures, T. Rowe Price, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alpine Space Ventures, and others – with an additional $500M in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers – we’re mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space. The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today’s and tomorrow’s massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits. With multiple launches planned through 2026 and 2027, we're Building Bigger to develop the solar system and become a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a groundbreaking Series C space startup, we’d love for you to apply. The Role K2’s plan doesn't stop at satellite buses, however. By operating our own vehicles and manifesting regular rides to space, K2 is uniquely positioned to design, test, and deploy-at-scale ambitious optical payloads in MEO, GEO, cis-lunar, and deep space on unprecedented timelines. The satellite bus is the platform – the payloads are the mission. There are any number of space-based optical payloads that can generate value here on Earth (ex. forest fire detection, climate and atmospheric monitoring, etc.) and further planetary science in our solar system (ex. hyper-spectral imaging, laser-altimetry) -- all of which require payload-specific optics benches with spectral / spatial filters, beam-shaping optics, image scanning / stabilization mechanisms, electro-optical sensors, fiber-to-free space interfaces, etc. coupled to large aperture, diffraction-limited telescopes for collecting and transmitting optical energy from the UV to the infrared. As an Optical Systems Engineer, you will contribute to defining how K2 designs, manufactures, tests, and deploys optics benches across K2’s optical payload suite. You will be involved in every phase of your optical system’s life cycle, from initial feasibility and architectural trade studies through manufacturing, ground testing, and on-orbit commissioning. The development timelines and manufacturing scale that we are targeting require meaningful innovation , but you will have the resources and full support of K2 to make this possible and help raise the bar for the next generation of space technology companies.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in physics, optics, computer science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or a related technical field.
8+ years of experience in the design, manufacture, and test of optical systems.
Experience designing and deploying optical systems at every phase of the product life cycle (requirements generation, design, analysis, tolerance, procure, build, align, test, deploy, operate).

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with high-volume manufacturing – broad knowledge of manufacturing techniques, design for manufacturability, supply chain management, and productionization of assembly and test processes.
Experience with optical mechanisms – specifying their requirements, knowledge of feedback and actuation methods, basic controls analysis, quantifying mechanism error, and system-level testing.
Deep knowledge of electro-optical sensing technologies (ie. focal plane arrays, photodiodes, etc.) – their non-idealities, noise mechanisms, and mitigations, testing and characterization, and practical implementation / system integration details.
Experience conducting experimental research, data analysis, and visualizing esoteric datasets.
Understanding of the failure modes of electrical, mechanical, and optical systems in space environment.

Responsibilities

Responsible for delivering the system architecture, SNR budget, and system-specific modeling (ex. stray light, fiber coupling); detailed optical design and tolerancing; development plan (risk reduction timeline, division of labor, test strategy); environmental qualification and reliability testing; technical leadership of vendors and external partners, including component qualification, supply-chain development, and transition to volume manufacturing; and laboratory characterization, system-level validation, mission readiness, and on-orbit commissioning plan of optical benches for a suite of high-volume optical payloads operating in the UV / VIS / NIR / SWIR / MWIR / LWIR.
Collaborate with the optical and satellite bus teams to determine feasibility and optimal system requirements for optical payloads.
Prepare design reviews for your optical system to get stakeholder buy-in and communicate expectations to the hardware, software, test, and manufacturing teams.
Forecast staffing needs, define roles, and interview candidates to ensure the optical payloads team is staffed appropriately to deliver on schedule.
Mentor the engineers supporting you to make them more capable and autonomous in the realm of optical system development in the future – scoping work, providing feedback throughout, and reviewing and signing off on the quality of their work.
For any in-house fabrication and assembly, you’ll be responsible for the evaluation and selection of manufacturing equipment and working with the production team to develop a factory layout, work instructions, in-process checkouts, and end-of-line tests to ensure successful builds.