Optical Engineer - Lens Designer

Entangled Future; Boulder (CO); On-site; USD 105,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Atom Computing in Boulder, CO is seeking an Optical Engineer specializing in lens design to build custom, high-performance optical systems for our quantum computer. You will own the complete optical design lifecycle—from concept and ray-tracing to tolerancing and final prescriptions.

You will collaborate with fabrication vendors to bring precision lenses to life, develop fabrication drawings to ISO 10110 standards, and drive manufacturability through design for manufacturing.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Optical Sciences or Optical Engineering; advanced degree preferred.
• 5+ years optical design experience.
• 2+ years hands-on optics assembly in a lab.
• Experience with Fourier Optics, flat field relay optics, and telecentric imaging.
• Experience in high-NA imaging system design.
• Experience with Zemax, FRED, or equivalent ray-tracing software.
• Design for Manufacturing (DFM) for precision optics.
• Fluency with ISO 10110 optical drawing standards.
• Lens tolerancing in ray-tracing software.
• STOP analysis experience.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and test lens assemblies and systems for fiber collimation, laser delivery, imaging systems.
• Research and develop novel lens and mirror systems for laser delivery and imaging systems.
• Perform aberration correction, athermalization, and chromatic performance analyses.
• Evaluate design solutions with detailed tolerance and stray light analyses.
• Develop alignment procedures for optical designs.
• Create fabrication drawings and specifications (ISO 10110) for custom optics.
• Collaborate with foundries and vendors to ensure manufacturability (DFM) and oversee procurement of optical elements.

Skills

Optical design

Lab experience

Ray-tracing analysis

DFM for optics

Tolerance analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in Optical Sciences or Optical Engineering

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Zemax

FRED

Ray-tracing software

Job description

Optical Engineer - Lens Designer at Atom Computing, Boulder, CO. A mid-level full time position in the Optical Engineering team, listed under hardware engineering.

Atom Computing is seeking an Optical Engineer specializing in Lens Design to create custom, high-performance optical systems from the ground up. In this role, you will own the complete optical design lifecycle—from initial concept and ray-tracing to tolerancing, finalizing optical prescriptions, and working directly with fabrication vendors to bring custom lenses for our quantum computer to life.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and test lens assemblies and systems for fiber collimation, laser delivery, imaging systems.
• Research and develop novel lens and mirror systems for laser delivery and imaging systems.
• Perform analysis on aberration correction, athermalization, and chromatic performance to balance competing system requirements
• Evaluate suitability of design solutions by performing detailed tolerance and stray light analysis
• Develop alignment procedures for optical designs
• Generate rigorous optical fabrication drawings and specifications (e.g., ISO 10110 standards) for custom lens components and assemblies.
• Collaborate directly with custom optics foundries and coating vendors to ensure manufacturability (DFM) and oversee the procurement of custom optical elements.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Optical Sciences or Optical Engineering, advanced degree a plus
• 5+ years optical design experience
• 2+ years of hands‑on optics assembly experience in a laboratory environment
• Experience with Fourier Optics, flat field relay optical systems, and telecentric imaging
• Experience in the design of high‑numerical‑aperture imaging systems
• Experience with Zemax, FRED, or equivalent ray‑tracing software
• Expertise in Design for Manufacturing (DFM) for precision optics
• Fluency in optical drawing standards (ISO 10110).
• Experience with lens tolerancing in ray‑tracing software
• Experience with STOP analysis