Senior Photonics Engineer, Free-Space Optics

K2 Space • Los Angeles, CA

7h • $150,000 - $220,000

About The Position

K2 is hiring a Senior Photonics Engineer focused on free-space optics to define how the company measures and models the atmosphere and designs optical hardware to operate through it. The role sits at the intersection of free-space optical communications, adaptive optics, and integrated photonics, and owns the process from experiments through modeling and requirements.

The engineer will work across tabletop atmospheric-turbulence emulators, laboratory benches incorporating optical receivers and photonic chips, outdoor links through real turbulence, and occasional campaigns at mountaintop optical ground stations and observatories. They will own K2’s atmospheric channel modeling and determine how measured data informs requirements for photonic integrated circuits (PICs), testing, and payload teams. The role also collaborates with the optical payload team and may consult on remote-sensing and other payloads that look through the atmosphere.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in optics, physics, electrical engineering, or a related technical field.
• At least 5 years of hands-on free-space optics experience in free-space optical communications, adaptive optics, or atmospheric propagation; a relevant PhD counts toward this requirement.
• Experience leading free-space optical experiments end to end, including designing and aligning benches, taking data, and correlating results with models.
• Working knowledge of optical turbulence and propagation theory, including Cn², Fried parameter, and Rytov variance.
• Python skills for modeling and analysis.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s or PhD in optics, physics, or a related field.
• Adaptive optics experience in astronomy, beam control, or free-space optical communications.
• Experience with photonic integrated circuits, photonic lanterns, or fiber coupling through turbulence.
• Experience with pointing, acquisition, and tracking, such as fast steering mirrors or beacon tracking, or optical link performance analysis, such as BER, SNR, scintillation, and fading.
• Experience with spatial light modulators, deformable or fast steering mirrors, or phase-plate turbulence emulators.
• Field campaign experience at an observatory or outdoor optical test range, including night operations.
• Experience with remote sensing, lidar, or atmospheric characterization instruments.
• Experience with wave-optics simulation tools such as AOTools or WaveProp, and Zemax.

Responsibilities

• Design and build tabletop experiments that emulate optical propagation through turbulent media using spatial light modulators, phase plates, and phase-screen generation; validate them against target statistics including Cn², r0, scintillation, beam wander, wavefront error, and fade statistics.
• Integrate receivers—including free-space optics, fiber and photonic-chip front ends, and control electronics—into experiments and measure coupling efficiency, fading, bit error rate, and control-loop bandwidth.
• Characterize wavefront sensing and correction hardware, including Shack-Hartmann sensors, deformable mirrors, and SLMs, alongside photonic-integrated alternatives.
• Conduct outdoor horizontal-path links on rooftops and test ranges, followed by night campaigns at mountaintop optical ground stations and observatories; coordinate sites, obtain laser-safety approvals, transport equipment, operate at night, and reduce data.
• Own and maintain K2’s optical propagation and channel models in Python, calibrate them against laboratory and field data, quantify uncertainty, and translate results into requirements.
• Define the experiment roadmap by determining which measurements will most reduce model uncertainty and setting the laboratory-to-field test plan.
• Automate experiments on the team’s shared test framework so laboratory and field data use a common pipeline.
• Mentor engineers and technicians supporting the experiments.
• Work closely with PIC designers, test engineers, and K2’s optical payload team; consult on remote-sensing and other payloads that look through the atmosphere as payloads grow.

Benefits

• Base salary of $150,000–$220,000 plus company equity.
• Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical, dental, and vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and other perks.

What This Job Offers

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