Senior Optical Design Engineer at Leidos

Description

The Leidos Innovations Center currently has an opening for a Senior Optical Design Engineer to work in our San Diego, CA or Dayton, Ohio office.  This is an exciting opportunity to develop disruptive optical technologies that could be integrated into future space systems – a business area in which Leidos is transforming the payloads solutions for the future. 

As a Senior Engineer, you will directly support a rapidly growing sector within the Division by designing, developing, and demonstrating new optical technologies that could drastically reduce size, weight, power, and cost of compact satellite optical payloads, and potentially enhancing performance to enable new capabilities. Responsibilities would initially be in working with current optical designers to understand the trades in optical payload design, investigation into new optics including diffractive optics, meta-optics, and gradient index lenses, and developing new insights and capabilities in integration of such technologies into future optical payload development. Additional responsibilities will likely include serving as a Principal Investigator (PI) on Contract R&D efforts with the Government and working on novel payload concepts through internal R&D (IRAD) effort.

This role can be based out of San Diego, CA or Dayton, Ohio.

Primary Responsibilities

• Leverage expertise in optics design and new optics technologies to analyze trades in performance and size, weight, and power for satellite optical payloads.
• Utilize modeling tools to develop insights in co-design of different optical technologies in a single optical payload.
• Collaborate with optical designers and team mates to evaluate and mature optics technologies, and develop a pipeline to transition them to production and integration into optical payloads.
• Contribute to developing a roadmap of novel imaging technologies for future space systems, and explore nascent concepts.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Physics, Optics, or equivalent field with 8–12 years, Master’s degree with 6-10 years of prior relevant experience or Doctorate with 4+ years of prior relevant experience.
• Must be a U.S Citizen.
• Qualified candidates must be able to obtain a Secret security clearance (no clearance needed to start).
• Expertise in performance evaluations of optical components, including point spread functions (PSFs), modulation transfer functions (MTFs), encircled power, etc.
• Experience with fabrication and characterization of optics, including diffractive/meta-optics.
• Proficient experience with finite element-based design tools such as COMSOL, CST, or Lumerical.
• Proficient experience with optical design tools such as Zemax or Code V.
• Proficient in Windows.
• Excellent communication skills and proven ability to work directly with customers and deliver results.
• Mission oriented with a strong ability guide a team towards goals and deliver real world products.
• Proficient with technical writing, documentation, and organization.
• Robust sense of initiative, a self-starter who can work independently.

Preferred Qualifications

• Active Secret security clearance.
• Master's and Ph.D. degrees in Engineering, Physics, Optics, or equivalent field are preferred.
• Experience in developing hybrid optical systems with novel optical components.
• Experience in proposal development and business development.

LInC

Original Posting Date:

While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

Pay Range:

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.