Principal Optical Engineer

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

Job summary

Langham Recruitment in London is seeking a Principal Optical Engineer to lead the optical architecture of a next‑generation hardware platform. You will own the design from prototyping through production and guide the technical direction of the project.

You will design, model, simulate, and optimise optical systems using Zemax, oversee development from prototype to production, and drive budgets, calibration strategies, and tolerance analyses.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in optics or related field (Master's/PhD).
• 7+ years in optical design/engineering for complex hardware.
• Expert in Zemax for design, simulation, tolerancing.
• Experience bringing optical designs from prototype to production.

Responsibilities

• Own optical architecture and technical direction.
• Design, model, simulate, and optimise optical systems with Zemax.
• Lead optical system development from prototypes through verification, validation and production.
• Develop optical budgets, tolerance analyses, error budgets and calibration strategies.
• Balance performance with manufacturability, cost, reliability, packaging, and thermal considerations.
• Work hands-on in the lab to validate designs and correlate simulations with measurements.

Skills

Optical design

Holography experience

Laboratory testing

Prototype to production

Education

Master's or PhD in Optics

Tools

Zemax

Job description

Principal Optical Engineer | Next Gen Optics | London | £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.
• Experience with systems involving holography, microscopes, precision instrumentation, and laser systems.