Optics and Photonics Expert

AfterQuery; Deutschland; Remote; EUR 105,000 - 141,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Milestone bonuses

Job summary

AfterQuery is seeking optics/photonics professionals for remote, project-based work. You will design realistic problems, author reference solutions, and assess submitted work with expert judgment.

The role offers flexible, asynchronous collaboration and competitive pay at $100 per hour, with milestone bonuses for consistent high quality. Candidates should have 1–3 years in the domain and hold a Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience building or validating computational models in optics/photonics/electromagnetics.
• Proficiency with a named simulation tool set (Lumerical, Zemax, Code V, etc.).
• Active in the field with hands-on work, not purely academic.
• Comfortable with asynchronous, remote work.

Responsibilities

• Design realistic technical scenarios and problem sets in your track.
• Author expert-level reference solutions and grading rubrics.
• Evaluate submitted solutions for correctness, depth, and domain judgment.

Skills

Computational modeling

Independent work

Remote work capability

Education

Bachelor’s/Master’s/PhD in optics or related field

Tools

Lumerical

Zemax

Code V

RSoft

COMSOL

Ansys HFSS

CST

Meep

Tidy3D

Job description

This is a remote, project-based role for optics and photonics professionals with 1+ years of hands-on experience modeling optical, photonic, or electromagnetic systems. You will complete tasks involving the design of realistic technical problems in your domain, authoring expert-level reference solutions, and evaluating submitted work for correctness and depth. Work is fully asynchronous with no set hours or meetings required, and tasks can be completed on your own schedule. Pay is $100 an hour, with milestone bonuses for consistent high quality work. This is an excellent opportunity to work on hard, expert-level problems in your field while earning competitive pay on a flexible, project-by-project basis.

Requirements

• Domain: Optics / Photonics / Electromagnetics
• Experience: 1-3 years
• Education: Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD

Candidates who meet the requirements and provide the requested materials will be prioritized for review. As part of this process, we conduct thorough background checks. Candidates who meet fewer than 70% of the stated qualifications may be flagged for misrepresenting their professional experience, which could affect eligibility for future project staffing.

Responsibilities

• Design realistic technical scenarios and problem sets within your track
• Author expert-level reference solutions and grading rubrics
• Evaluate submitted solutions for correctness, depth, and domain judgment

Required Qualifications

• Hands-on experience building or validating computational models of optical, photonic, electromagnetic, RF, or communications systems
• Working proficiency with a named simulation tool such as Lumerical, Zemax, Code V, RSoft, COMSOL, Ansys HFSS, CST, Meep, or Tidy3D
• Currently or recently active in the field, hands-on rather than purely academic-adjacent
• Comfortable with independent, asynchronous, remote work

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior research publication record, open-source contributions, or recognized work product in optics or photonics
• Experience evaluating, reviewing, or grading others' technical work (peer review, code review, grading, editing)
• Track-specific bonus signal: integrated photonics and PIC design, metasurfaces and nanophotonics, antenna and RF systems, fiber optic communications, or DSP and wireless PHY

Why apply

• Work directly on frontier AI research problems in your area of deep expertise
• Fully remote, flexible, asynchronous, fits around existing work
• Competitive hourly compensation at $100 an hour, with milestone bonuses for consistent high quality work