Optical Engineer Jobs

About The Position

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Optics, Photonics, Physics, or Electrical Engineering.
• At least 7 years designing and building pulsed solid-state lasers that shipped or flew, including diode-pumped, Q-switched systems taken from modeling through bench hardware to measured performance.
• First-principles resonator and Q-switch design knowledge, including rate equations, cavity stability and mode control, passive and active Q-switching, and output-coupler and fluence tradeoffs against coating and material damage thresholds.
• Practical diode-pumping experience, including pump-wavelength control over temperature, thermal lensing and fracture limits, diode lifetime and derating, and associated drive electronics.
• Amplifier design experience with seeded MOPA chains in fiber and/or bulk, including stored-energy extraction, ASE and parasitic-lasing suppression, SBS/SRS management, linewidth control, and isolation.
• Laser modeling fluency, using tools such as LASCAD, ASLD, RP Fiber Power, Zemax, and/or Python rate-equation models, with demonstrated models that match measured hardware.
• Bench characterization experience with pulse energy and temporal shape, M² and divergence, spectrum and linewidth, and jitter across temperature and life; ability to defend the resulting data in design reviews.
• Experience packaging pulsed lasers in bonded and aligned assemblies that maintain specifications through shock, vibration, and temperature.
• Laser safety expertise including ANSI Z136.1, classification, NOHD analysis, and range operations; prior Laser Safety Officer duty or sufficient depth to take on the role.
• Daily use of agentic coding tools such as Claude Code or similar, with examples of shipped work.
• Must be a U.S. Person and eligible to access export-controlled information.

Nice To Haves

• M.S. or Ph.D. in Optics, Photonics, Physics, or Electrical Engineering.
• Experience with Er:glass or eye-safe 1.5 µm lasers in a rangefinder, designator, or ladar product.
• Microchip laser design or manufacturing experience, including bonded passive-Q-switch assemblies.
• High-g or munition-class laser packaging experience, or direct missile or seeker program experience.
• Experience taking a laser from prototype to volume production, including yield, burn-in, and acceptance at rate.
• Working knowledge of the gain-media, Q-switch crystal, coating, and pump-diode supply base.

Responsibilities

• Own the laser transmitter specification and interface control document with the coherent systems engineer, including pulse energy, width, repetition rate, jitter, divergence, M², size, weight, power, and environmental requirements, supported by models based on channel link budgets.
• Survey and downselect off-the-shelf Er:glass microchip modules, seeded MOPA transmitters, and seed lasers; manage vendor technical relationships.
• Characterize purchased laser units for energy over temperature, repetition-rate derating, beam quality, pulse jitter, shot life, and lot-to-lot variation; write acceptance tests.
• Integrate trigger and synchronization, drive-electronics interfaces, thermal paths, and swap-ready optical, mechanical, and electrical interfaces.
• Design, assemble, and test an in-house Q-switched Er:glass laser, including gain-glass selection, pump-diode and thermal design, Q-switching, cavity and output coupler design, and laser-damage budgeting; take it from first light to a qualified, producible unit.
• Design and build seeded MOPA amplifier chains around off-the-shelf seed lasers, addressing gain staging, energy extraction, ASE and parasitic lasing, SBS/SRS headroom, isolation, and pulsed pumping.
• Package both laser families for flight conditions, including shock, vibration, and temperature, and own lifetime, burn-in, and acceptance testing for rate production with Manufacturing and Test Systems.
• Own the pulsed-laser laboratory, including alignment and bonding fixtures, metrology, and build procedures for technicians.
• Own the program-wide laser safety function, including classification, NOHD analysis, range paperwork, and the ANSI Z136.1 program as Laser Safety Officer.