The Role & Your Impact:You will own optical system design and help drive critical optical investigations for our hardware platform.
This role is centered on optical expertise first. We are looking for someone who can bring deep experience in optical theory, optical design, and system-level problem solving. You should be able to evaluate tradeoffs, identify better technical paths, and raise the quality of optical decision-making across the team. Mechanical integration matters, but this role is primarily about strong optical judgment rather than owning every mechanical detail yourself.
You will work closely with mechanical and electrical teammates to turn optical designs into robust deployed systems. This is a senior role for someone who can walk into a design review and bring perspectives and strategies the team has not already considered.
What You'll Own:- Lead optical design and analysis for core system components
- Drive optical investigations, trade studies, and system-level design decisions
- Specify and evaluate optical components and subsystem architectures
- Partner with mechanical engineers on packaging, housing, and integration decisions
- Support tolerance analysis, performance validation, and design iteration
- Lead or guide alignment, characterization, and test efforts for integrated optical systems
- Work with vendors and fabricators on manufacturability, tolerancing, and component feasibility
- Help establish best practices for optical development, validation, and technical documentation
What We're Looking For:- Strong background in optical engineering, optical design, or related physics-based system work
- Deep understanding of optical theory and the ability to apply it to real hardware problems
- Experience designing, analyzing, and debugging optical systems in practice
- Ability to lead technical investigations from first principles and prior experience
- Enough mechanical fluency to collaborate effectively on packaging and integration, without needing to be a pure mechanical owner
- Strong hands-on engineering judgment and comfort working across disciplines
- Senior-level experience that allows you to guide technical choices with confidence
We want to talk if: If you have experience with alignment and characterization of precise optical systems operating in the real world
Education:BS or MS in Optical Engineering, Physics, Mechanical Engineering, or related field.
What you've built matters more than where you went to school.
How You Operate:- Extreme bias for action. You'd rather build a prototype tomorrow than model it for a month
- Rigorous testing mindset. You characterize your own systems before the field does
- Comfortable with ambiguity and fast, constantly iterating in a startup environment
- Your brain only releases dopamine when you're building
- You debug from first principles, not Stack Overflow
- Clear communicator across mechanical, electrical, optical, and software teams
- Self-directed. You identify what needs to happen next and do it without being told
How we work: Core hours are Monday through Friday, 9 to 6. When we're sprinting toward a demo or field test, the team ramps up - nights, weekends, whatever it takes to ship. When the sprint lands, we ramp down. We don't manufacture intensity for show.
Benefits:- Competitive salary + equity
- United Health Care medical, dental, and vision coverage
- Flexible 18 days PTO + 5 sick days
- Travel to field test events and range days
- Covered daily lunches and office snacks + drinks
- E-bike / scooter stipend ( Up to $500)
- Direct access to leadership and real ownership over your work
