EO/IR Optical Systems Lead Engineer

0090 CORP-Corporate Office; United States; On-site; USD 136,000 - 204,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Plan

Savings Plan

Paid Time Off

Job summary

Northrop Grumman is seeking a Senior Principal Optical Engineer to lead optical implementations and system development for advanced EO/IR systems. The role operates on‑site in Linthicum, MD, coordinating across programs, mentoring junior staff, and engaging with customers on technical topics.

The position requires a PhD/advanced degree with several years of experience in optical design, strong Zemax/Code V/FRED skills, and the ability to obtain Special Program Access.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 8 years of experience, Master’s degree with 6 years, or Ph.D. with 4 years of experience in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, or related fields; additional 4 years may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• A current/active U.S. Government Secret Clearance is required.
• Ability to obtain Special Program Access.
• Experience in Zemax, Code V, and/or FRED for optical design and analysis.
• Experience with optical theory and detailed optical design for imaging and non‑imaging systems.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a team‑based environment, collaborating with systems, mechanical, electrical, and manufacturing disciplines.

Responsibilities

• Convert system performance and functional requirements into optical architectures, optical layouts, and detailed optical designs for airborne platforms.
• Analyze optical design performance, generate and flow down vendor specifications, develop and execute alignment, integration, and test (AI&T) plans.
• Build and maintain physics‑based sensor models.
• Develop and quantify performance metrics for system performance.
• Understand data quality and artifact impacts.
• Represent system performance in functional and analytical models.

Skills

Optical design

EO/IR systems

Zemax/Code V/FRED

Team collaboration

Mentoring

System architecture

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Science/Engineering

Master’s degree

PhD

Tools

Zemax

Code V

FRED

Job description

Northrop Grumman is seeking a Senior Principal Optical Engineer to lead optical implementations and system development for advanced EO/IR systems. The role operates on‑site in Linthicum, MD, coordinating across programs, mentoring junior staff, and engaging with customers on technical topics.

The position requires a PhD/advanced degree with several years of experience in optical design, strong Zemax/Code V/FRED skills, and the ability to obtain Special Program Access.