Optical Systems Technical Lead, AR/VR Displays - EagleEye

ABOUT THE TEAM

Our Warfighter Systems division is pioneering a future where mixed reality (MR), creates immersive, intuitive, and life-saving technologies. By seamlessly integrating real-time data with cutting-edge visualization tools, we are empowering warfighters with unparalleled situational awareness, enhanced training experiences, and operational superiority. This team is consistently pushing the boundaries of what's possible, and shaping a future where technology and defense unite to protect our nation.

ABOUT THE JOB

Come join one of the strongest performing mixed reality teams in the industry, dedicated to revolutionizing experiences for the warfighter. You will help develop and optimize advanced display test and calibration processes and station architectures to enable top of the line display system development. This role requires a blend of deep technical expertise and creative problem-solving skills as you contribute to national defense initiatives while pushing the boundaries of mixed reality.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Lead architecture decisions and optical trades for novel near-to-eye display sub-systems against broadly defined missions.
• Own the optical system across its full lifecycle — not just architecture and design, but integration, alignment, test, and successful verification and validation (V&V) of as-built hardware. You are accountable for the system working, not only for the design being sound.
• Define optical performance requirements given multi-disciplinary engineering constraints, and flow them down into component and subassembly specifications within mechanical, electrical, thermal, and industrial design limits.
• Build and defend the optical error budget for the system, allocating tolerance across components, assembly processes, and alignment operations.
• Partner closely and continuously with optical process engineering — co-developing manufacturing and metrology processes, grounding tolerances in real process capability, and closing the loop between design intent and what the production line can actually build. This partnership is central to the role, not a hand-off at the end.
• Own the correlation between model and measured hardware, closing the loop between predicted and as-built performance so that each design iteration is more predictive than the last.
• Evaluate and analyze prototype and production optical system performance errors to determine root cause.

TRAVEL

• This role requires regular international travel. Expect trips to Taiwan on the order of every one to two months to work hands-on with optical process engineering and production teams at partner and manufacturing sites. Candidates should be able and willing to sustain this cadence.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• BS in Engineering, with a concentration in Optics.
• Relevant experience in the design and analysis of complex optical systems — including optical system design, analysis, alignment, and test — in industry or an applicable academic environment.
• Demonstrated ownership across the full systems-engineering lifecycle, from architecture through verification and validation of delivered hardware.
• Deep experience with optical design and analysis software (Zemax or CODE V).
• Experience with STOP (Structural, Thermal, and Optical Performance) analysis.
• Knowledge of image quality metrics and data analysis methods.
• Experience with the design of diffraction-limited imaging systems in dynamic environments.
• Willingness and ability to travel internationally on a regular cadence (see Travel).

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• MS or PhD preferred, but not required.
• Demonstrated first-principles approach to complex opto-mechanical problems.
• Direct experience partnering with optical process / manufacturing engineering to carry designs into volume production.
• Optical component testing experience (spectral transmission, interferometry, etc.), optical system alignment and testing (EE, MTF, PSF, etc.), and opto-electrical system modeling.
• Experience with radiometry and stray light analysis.
• Demonstrated team leadership and mentoring of junior staff.
• Knowledge of common materials used in optical systems and the limitations of fabrication methods for optics (molded, polished, diamond-turned) as well as micro-structures.