Laser Engineer - High-Power Fiber Lasers

Star Catcher; Jacksonville (FL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

401(k) retirement plan

Life insurance

Paid parental leave

Job summary

Star Catcher seeks a Laser Engineer to design and optimize high-power fiber laser systems for space-to-space power beaming. You will define architectures, model performance, and select components to enable robust, space-ready lasers.

You will collaborate with electrical, thermal, and beam-delivery teams to ensure safe operation in vacuum, manage reliability, and support space-qualification activities, including regulatory compliance and vendor coordination.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Physics, Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related technical discipline.
• 3+ years hands-on experience designing, building, and testing high-power fiber lasers or amplifiers.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop high-power, near-diffraction-limited fiber laser sources and amplifiers for space-to-space laser power beaming.
• Define laser architecture and requirements with senior engineer including wavelength, output power, beam quality, linewidth, polarization, efficiency, thermal load, and reliability.
• Model laser performance including rate-equation gain, ASE, thermal effects, nonlinear thresholds (SBS, SRS, SPM), and TMI.
• Select components for high-power fiber lasers: gain and delivery fibers, pump diodes, combiners, cladding light strippers, isolators, end caps, and wavelength combiners.
• Design, assemble, splice, and test high-power fiber lasers; characterize power, spectrum, M², polarization, and stability.
• Develop non-standard sources such as thulium-doped, Raman, and frequency-doubled fiber lasers; support beam delivery integration.
• Collaborate with EE, thermal, and beam-expander teams on diode drivers, vacuum heat rejection, output collimation, and beam delivery.
• Support space qualification activities including radiation attenuation, thermal-vacuum, and vibration performance, outgassing, and derating of pump diodes.
• Assist technicians and manage relationships with vendors for fiber, diode, and component parts.

Skills

High-power fiber lasers

Laser safety

Optical modeling

TMI mitigation

Fusion splicing

Beam quality measurement

System integration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Physics/Optical/Electrical Engineering

Tools

RP Fiber Power

Spectral analyzers

Beam profilers

Power meters

Job description

Power the future of Space at Star Catcher

Star Catcher is building the first energy grid in space to power the orbital economy.

Today’s spacecraft must generate all of their own power, which caps what they can do and how long they can operate. But what if they could “plug” into a grid, the way buildings do on Earth? Instead of cables and outlets, Star Catcher is building the technology to wirelessly beam energy to spacecraft’s existing solar panels when and where they need it.
Be an early member of a team building an entirely new energy infrastructure at scale to power the next frontier.

Star Catcher Industries, Inc., located in Jacksonville, Florida, has an opportunity for a Laser Engineer - High-Power Fiber Lasersto support the development of space-to-space power beaming spacecraft and the Star Catcher Network, its orbital power grid.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and develop high-power, near-diffraction-limited (M² < 2) fiber laser sources and amplifiers for space-to-space laser power beaming.
• Define laser architecture and requirements with the senior laser engineer, including wavelength, output power, beam quality, linewidth, polarization, wall-plug and optical efficiency, thermal load, and reliability.
• Model laser and amplifier performance, including rate-equation gain and ASE, thermal effects, nonlinear thresholds (SBS, SRS, SPM), and transverse mode instability (TMI).
• Design and select components for high-power fiber lasers: gain and delivery fibers, pump diodes, pump/signal combiners, cladding light strippers, isolators, end caps, and wavelength combiners.
• Design, assemble, splice, and test high-power fiber lasers; establish characterization of power, spectrum, M², polarization, and stability.
• Develop non-standard sources where needed, such as thulium-doped fiber lasers near 0.8 µm, Raman fiber lasers, and frequency-doubled visible sources.
• Work with Electrical Engineering (laser-drive power electronics), thermal, and beam-expander teams on diode drivers, heat rejection in vacuum, output collimation, and beam delivery.
• Support the path to space qualification, including radiation-induced attenuation and photodarkening, thermal-vacuum and vibration performance, outgassing, and pump-diode reliability and derating.
• Support technicians in laser build practices, and manage technical relationships with fiber, diode, and component vendors.

Basic Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Physics, Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Experience: 3+ years of hands-on experience designing, building, and testing high-power fiber lasers or amplifiers; candidates with more experience are preferred.

Technical Expertise

• Fiber laser and amplifier design, including rate-equation modeling and laser physics.
• High-power fiber laser physics: thermal effects, photodarkening, nonlinear effects (SBS, SRS, SPM), TMI, and their mitigation.
• Design and selection of components for kW-class fiber lasers, including large-mode-area fibers, pump combiners, and cladding light strippers.
• Hands-on fusion splicing of large-mode-area and specialty fibers, and assembly and test of high-power fiber lasers.
• Beam-quality, spectral, and power characterization (M², optical spectrum analyzers, power meters, beam profilers).
• Working knowledge of Class 4 laser safety practices.

Preferred Qualifications

• Space Lasers: Design or qualification of space-qualified lasers or amplifiers (strongly preferred).
• Non-Standard Wavelengths: Thulium, Raman, or frequency-doubled fiber sources.
• Power Scaling: Spectral or coherent beam combining, or narrow-linewidth amplifiers.
• Pump Diodes: Diode reliability, derating, and wavelength stabilization.
• Modeling Tools: RP Fiber Power or equivalent commercial or custom fiber laser models.
• Advanced Degrees: Master's degree or Ph.D. in Physics, Optics, or Laser Engineering.

Help us deploy and scale space infrastructure that will drive our utilization of space forward! We offer a highly competitive benefits package including access to comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, 401(k) retirement plan, life insurance, and paid parental leave, in addition to other benefits.

Star Catcher is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Star Catcher is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

All offers of employment at Star Catcher are contingent upon results of a thorough background check and your ability to provide proof of eligibility to work in the US.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.