Lead Photonics Sensor Architect for Wearables

United States Digital Space LLC; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 216,000 - 255,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Equity package

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Mental health resources

Ōura Ring

Employee discounts

Paid time off

Holidays

Wellness days

Sick leave

Parental leave

Job summary

Ōura is seeking a collaborative Photonics Sensing Engineer to define, prototype, and validate optical sensors for low-power wearables in our San Francisco hybrid office.

You will lead sensor integration, drive characterization and validation tests, and collaborate with firmware, analytics, and systems teams to feed high-quality data into our signal processing and ML pipelines. Strong communication and cross-functional teamwork are essential.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of optical and electrode sensor or similar sensor design and integration roles.
• Experience with optical and electrode sensors, and low-power embedded sensor interfaces.
• Strong background in sensor characterization, signal quality analysis, embedded systems, and data integrity practices.
• Excellent analytical problem-solving and written/verbal communication skills.
• Collaborative mindset with experience working across hardware, firmware, and analytics teams.

Responsibilities

• Define, prototype and validate new sensors for low-power wearable platforms.
• Translate sensing requirements into robust hardware specifications.
• Lead integration of optical sensors into hardware with calibration, noise management, and high-quality signal acquisition.
• Design and execute sensor characterization and validation tests from prototype through production.
• Collaborate with firmware, algorithm, and systems teams to feed data into ML stacks.
• Contribute to product planning and sensor roadmap discussions.
• Develop and maintain rigorous test methodologies and automation for sensor performance.
• Analyze sensor data to diagnose edge cases and bottlenecks and define corrective actions.
• Engage with sensor vendors, partners, and manufacturers to assess technology options and optimize mass production.
• Produce clear technical documentation of sensor designs, trade studies, test plans, and performance metrics.
• Present findings and recommendations to engineering leadership and cross-disciplinary stakeholders.

Skills

Optical sensors

Electrode sensors

Embedded systems

Sensor integration

Signal quality analysis

Data integrity

Communication skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Raman spectroscopy

Photoacoustic sensing

QCL

Job description

Ōura is seeking a collaborative Photonics Sensing Engineer to define, prototype, and validate optical sensors for low-power wearables in our San Francisco hybrid office.

You will lead sensor integration, drive characterization and validation tests, and collaborate with firmware, analytics, and systems teams to feed high-quality data into our signal processing and ML pipelines. Strong communication and cross-functional teamwork are essential.