Optics Engineer

Becoming

$120K — $150K *
Aerospace & Defense
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Degree in optics, physics, electrical engineering, or equivalent
  • Experience designing and shipping integrated optical systems
  • Strong first-principles understanding of optical design and detection physics
  • Experience integrating optics with mechanical and electrical platforms
  • Demonstrated ownership of systems operating under real-world constraints

Responsibilities

  • Own optical subsystems within complex hardware platforms
  • Define optical path architecture: illumination, detection, filtering, and signal optimization
  • Select components for stability, lifecycle, and manufacturability
  • Develop mechanical integration and alignment strategies under various constraints
  • Integrate electrical detectors and signal acquisition systems
  • Optimize signal-to-noise ratio and mitigate drift
  • Establish calibration frameworks and validate long-term stability
  • Conduct prototyping, stress testing, and failure analysis

Benefits

  • Competitive salary and meaningful equity
  • Full benefits
  • High-trust, high-ownership environment
  • Rapid growth in scope and responsibility
Full Job Description
The Role

We are hiring an Optics Engineer to architect and own optical subsystems within Becoming's integrated hardware platform.

This is a senior builder role. You will design stable, production-grade optical systems that integrate tightly with mechanical structures, electronics, firmware, and data systems - and you will be accountable for their real-world performance.

This is not a research imaging role. You will think in terms of alignment stability, signal integrity, manufacturability, and long-duration runtime.

You will define specifications, make architecture decisions, and own outcomes.

What You'll Own
  • End-to-end ownership of optical subsystems inside complex hardware platforms
  • Optical path architecture: illumination, detection, filtering, and signal optimization
  • Component selection with attention to stability, lifecycle, and manufacturability
  • Mechanical integration and alignment strategy under thermal and environmental constraints
  • Electrical integration of detectors and signal acquisition systems
  • Signal-to-noise optimization and drift mitigation
  • Calibration frameworks and long-term stability validation
  • Prototyping, stress testing, and failure analysis
  • Documentation and standards that enable scaling


Who You Are

You are someone who:
  • Operates with high agency - you identify problems, define solutions, and execute
  • Takes end-to-end ownership of what you build
  • Brings high energy to complex, ambiguous engineering challenges
  • Acts with high integrity - you are honest about tradeoffs, risks, and failure modes
  • Communicates directly and clearly, especially when something won't work
  • Is self-aware about your strengths and gaps, and proactively fills them
  • Thinks like a systems integrator, not a narrow specialist
  • Cares deeply about understanding systems at a first-principles level

Requirements
  • Have built optical systems that operated outside of controlled lab demos
  • Think in systems, not just ray traces
  • Understand how optical decisions impact mechanical tolerances and electrical noise
  • Surface limitations and risks clearly
  • Prefer robust architectures over fragile precision
  • Stay composed debugging signal degradation in live systems
  • Raise the technical bar around you
  • You take responsibility for whether the signal holds up over time - not just whether the design simulated correctly.

Strong Signals
  • Degree in optics, physics, electrical engineering, or equivalent demonstrated depth
  • Experience designing and shipping integrated optical systems
  • Strong first-principles understanding of optical design and detection physics
  • Experience integrating optics with mechanical and electrical platforms
  • Demonstrated ownership of systems operating under real-world constraints
  • Ability to operate without rigid process scaffolding or heavy vendor abstraction

Benefits
  • Competitive salary and meaningful equity
  • Full benefits
  • High-trust, high-ownership environment
  • Rapid growth in scope and responsibility

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