Principal Optical Engineer

Langham Recruitment; City Of London; On-site; GBP 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Holiday allowance

Pension scheme

Job summary

Langham Recruitment is seeking a Principal Optical Engineer in London, onsite, to lead the development of advanced optical systems for a next-generation hardware platform. You will own the optical architecture, design, and development from prototyping through to production.

The role requires 7+ years in optical engineering, a Master’s or PhD in optics/photonics/physics, and strong Zemax expertise. You will work hands-on in a lab and collaborate across teams to deliver scalable, high-performance

Qualifications

• 7+ years' experience in optical design or optical engineering within complex hardware products.
• Advanced degree in optics, photonics, physics or related field preferred.
• Strong understanding of optical tolerancing and verification processes.

Responsibilities

• Own the optical architecture and technical direction of a next-generation product and future technology roadmap.
• Design, model, simulate and optimise optical systems using Zemax.
• Lead optical system development from early prototypes through design verification & validation and production.
• Develop optical performance budgets, tolerance analyses, error budgets and calibration strategies.
• Balance performance and engineering capabilities with manufacturability, cost, reliability, packaging, thermal behaviour and scalability.
• Work hands-on in the laboratory to validate designs and correlate simulation with measured performance.

Skills

Optical design

Optical engineering

Education

Master's or PhD in optics/photonics/physics

Tools

Zemax

Job description

Principal Optical Engineer | Next Gen Optics | London - Onsite | £85k - £110K

We're looking for an experienced Principal Optical Engineer to lead the development of advanced optical systems for an innovative next-generation hardware platform.

This is a highly technical, hands‑on role where you'll own the optical architecture, design, and development from prototyping, design, development and integration to manufacturing.

If you enjoy solving complex optical engineering problems and want to lead the development of a next‑generation product. This is the role for you.

Responsibilities

• Own the optical architecture and technical direction of a next‑generation product and future technology roadmap.
• Design, model, simulate and optimise optical systems using Zemax.
• Lead optical system development from early prototypes through design verification & validation and production.
• Develop optical performance budgets, tolerance analyses, error budgets and calibration strategies.
• Balance performance and engineering capabilities with manufacturability, cost, reliability, packaging, thermal behaviour and scalability.
• Work hands‑on in the laboratory to validate designs and correlate simulation with measured performance.

Skills

• Master's or PhD background in a related subject, etc Electronics, Optics, Photonics, Physics.
• 7+ years' experience in optical design or optical engineering within complex hardware products.
• Expertise using Zemax for optical design, simulation, optimisation and tolerancing.
• Experience taking optical designs from prototype through verification, validation and towards production.
• Ideally experience with systems involving imaging systems, microscopes, precision instrumentation, holography and laser systems.

Benefits

• Salary £85,000 - £110,000 DoE
• Holiday allowance
• Pension scheme