Optical Engineer - Free-Space & IR Navigation

SpaceX; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 135,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Long-term incentives

Discretionary bonuses

Medical, vision, dental

401(k) retirement plan

Paid parental leave

Paid vacation & holidays

Job summary

SpaceX is seeking an Optical Engineer (Starfall) to own free-space optical system design, validation, and operation for a navigation sensor combining a visible camera and IR sensing. You will lead optics, detectors, PCB, precision mechanisms, and enclosures built for space and high-rate production.

You will analyze, validate, and troubleshoot assemblies, drive architecture trades, and contribute to mission-critical navigation applications in a fast-paced, autonomous environment.

Qualifications

• Hands-on optics, imaging, or photonics lab experience.
• Strong coding skills in C++, MATLAB, or Python.
• Familiarity with optical analysis and testing.

Responsibilities

• Apply optics knowledge to design, analyze, and validate visible and IR sensors.
• Define requirements for high-performance optical/IR navigation sensors.
• Lead optical architecture through trade studies and risk testing.
• Drive trades across optical, IR, mechanical, electrical, and manufacturing constraints.
• Design next-generation optical hardware for high-rate production.
• Coordinate with manufacturing and supply chain to ensure manufacturability.
• Perform environmental qualification, reliability, and fault-injection testing.
• Lead field tests of navigation sensor systems.
• Review data and investigate anomalies.
• Maintain performance budgets and specifications.
• Collaborate with software/automation teams for automated testing.

Skills

Lab experience

Programming in C++/MATLAB/Python

Education

Bachelor’s degree in optical engineering or physics

Tools

Zemax

Python scripting

Linux

Job description

SpaceX is seeking an Optical Engineer (Starfall) to own free-space optical system design, validation, and operation for a navigation sensor combining a visible camera and IR sensing. You will lead optics, detectors, PCB, precision mechanisms, and enclosures built for space and high-rate production.

You will analyze, validate, and troubleshoot assemblies, drive architecture trades, and contribute to mission-critical navigation applications in a fast-paced, autonomous environment.