Optical Payload Systems Engineer

Foundational; Greater London; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Foundational seeks a hands-on Payload Engineer to design, build, and test compact optical payloads for small satellites and to ensure compatibility with our ground network and data platform.

You will work across the payload lifecycle from concept to environmental tests, collaborating with software and hardware engineers in a fast-paced startup environment. UK citizenship is required for export controls compliance.

Qualifications

• Degree in physics, optical engineering, aerospace/mechanical/electrical engineering, or closely related field.
• Solid grasp of optics fundamentals - geometrical and physical optics, radiometry, and basic detector/laser principles.
• Hands-on instincts: building, aligning, and fixing real hardware, not just simulating.
• Comfort with ambiguity and ownership in a startup with broad scope.
• Clear communication and a collaborative, low-ego approach with software and hardware teams.
• UK citizenship is a firm requirement due to export controls.

Responsibilities

• Payload design & build across optical and opto-mechanical aspects.
• Modelling & analysis of link budgets and performance.
• Integration, test & verification including environmental qualification.
• Ground-to-space validation with the ground systems team.
• Owning your corner: documenting designs and learning for future iterations.

Skills

Physics fundamentals

Optical engineering

Hands-on hardware

Systems thinking

Clear communication

Education

Physics/Optical engineering degree

Tools

Zemax

Code V

Job description

We are Foundational

We're an early-stage, mission-driven startup tackling one of the most exciting and complex challenges in the space domain today: building the most precise understanding of space and Earth using ground-based lasers.

Using satellite laser ranging (SLR) data, we're empowering the next generation of space companies with exquisite data that enables new forms of resilient navigation, Earth observation, and precise space traffic control - essential for the sustainability and resilience of the space domain. This mission, this technology, will be foundational to the future of civilisation.

Our SLR and space debris laser ranging (SDLR) network doesn't stop at the ground. To close the loop on precision, we're building the small optical payloads that fly on-orbit and talk back to our stations. That's where you come in.

What you'll be doing

This is not a theoretical role. You'll help design, build, and test compact optical payloads that ride on small satellites and interoperate with our ground network and our data platform. It's hands-on, physics-first work with a short path from your bench to something that ends up in orbit.

You'll work across the full lifecycle of a payload, from early concept and modelling through build, alignment, and environmental test, alongside a small team of software and hardware engineers who don't draw hard lines between disciplines.

Specifically, you'll get stuck into:

• Payload design & build. Contributing to the optical and opto-mechanical design of small space-based payloads - component selection (optics, detectors, sources), layout, tolerancing, and assembly of optical benches and modules.

• Modelling & analysis. Building link budgets and performance models covering radiometry, atmospheric transmission, pointing, and detector probability of detection, and using them to make real design decisions.

• Integration, test & verification. Assembling and aligning optical hardware, then putting it through environmental qualification (thermal, vibration, vacuum) and performance characterisation - and learning what actually survives launch.

• Ground-to-space validation. Working with the ground systems team to validate ranging precision and pointing accuracy end-to-end, so the payload and the network behave as one system.

• Owning your corner. Documenting designs, feeding lessons back into the next iteration, and taking genuine responsibility for a slice of the payload as we grow.

What we're looking for

You don't need a decade of flight heritage. We care far more about strong fundamentals, hunger, and the ability to learn fast in a hands-on environment.

Essential

• A degree in physics, optical engineering, aerospace/mechanical/electrical engineering, or a closely related field.

• A solid grasp of optics fundamentals - geometrical and physical optics, radiometry, and basic detector/laser principles.

• Hands-on instincts: you like building, aligning, breaking, and fixing real hardware, not just simulating it.

• Comfort with ambiguity and ownership. You're energised by a startup where scope is broad, priorities shift, and no one hands you a fully-specified task list.

• Clear communication and a collaborative, low-ego approach to working across software and hardware.

• UK citizenship. Our work spans dual-use technology and touches UK and international export controls on ranging, tracking, and orbit-determination. UK citizenship is a firm requirement for this role.

Nice to have (genuinely optional)

• Exposure to optical design software (Zemax or Code V).

• Any hands-on experience with space hardware, CubeSats/smallsats, optical ground stations, LiDAR, or laser systems - academic projects and competitions absolutely count.

• Familiarity with environmental/space qualification testing.

• Scripting for data analysis (Python, MATLAB, or similar).

• Awareness of laser safety standards (e.g. BS EN 60825).

Why Foundational

• Real ownership. A high-impact role with genuine autonomy in a new startup - your contributions directly shape our product and our success.

• Cutting-edge work. Meaningful, challenging, complex problems at the frontier of the space domain.

• Equity that matters. Government-backed EMI scheme options in a fast-growing, VC-backed company.

• A team worth learning from. A dynamic, collaborative environment built on innovation, creativity, and teamwork - with room to grow fast.

• A mission you can believe in. What we build underpins the future of Earth observation and space traffic control.