Optical Engineer

Optical Engineer
San Francisco Bay Area (Onsite) | $150-230K + Benefits & Equity

A privately held technology company developing advanced sensing hardware is seeking an Optical Engineer to join its core product engineering team. The company builds compact, high-performance electro-optical systems used in demanding commercial and industrial environments where reliability, precision, and scalability are critical.

This role offers end-to-end ownership of optical subsystems, from early concept and simulation through lab validation and release to manufacturing. It’s a strong fit for an engineer who enjoys designing optics that must perform consistently outside of controlled lab conditions.

The Role

The Optical Engineer will be responsible for the design and validation of optical and opto-mechanical subsystems within a complex hardware platform.

Key responsibilities include:

• Designing and optimizing multi-element optical systems integrated with semiconductor light sources
• Performing optical and opto-mechanical simulations to assess performance across environmental and mechanical stress conditions
• Running tolerancing and sensitivity analyses aligned with realistic manufacturing capabilities
• Developing and refining optical alignment, calibration, and performance test methods
• Contributing to opto-mechanical concepts for next-generation hardware platforms
• Working closely with electrical, mechanical, and systems engineers on system-level tradeoffs
• Providing technical oversight for external optical vendors and consultants
• Supporting product qualification to meet stringent reliability and quality requirements
• Contributing to invention disclosures and internal technical documentation

Required Experience

• Strong fundamentals in optics, with hands-on experience designing multi-lens optical systems
• Advanced proficiency with Zemax (sequential and non-sequential) for optical design, tolerancing, and performance analysis
• Experience building and debugging optical lab test setups
• Comfort validating optical performance against real-world requirements, not just simulations
• Proficiency in Python or MATLAB for analysis, automation, or data processing
• Experience working in cross-disciplinary hardware teams
• Exposure to managing optical component suppliers or external design partners

Nice to Have

• Experience with athermal optical design or STOP analysis
• Familiarity with mechanical design tools such as SolidWorks or ANSYS
• Background supporting optics intended for production deployment
• Experience in regulated or reliability-focused industries
• Prior work on LiDAR, active sensing, or time-of-flight optical systems
• MS in Optical Engineering, Physics, Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent

Why This Role

• Salary $150-230K + Benefits & Equity
• Emphasis on real-world performance, not academic optimization
• Opportunity to influence future hardware platforms