Optics Engineer

Becoming; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Meaningful equity

Full benefits

Job summary

Becoming is seeking an Optics Engineer to architect and own optical subsystems within Becoming's integrated hardware platform. This is a senior builder role focused on production-grade optical systems, alignment stability, and long-duration runtime across a cross-disciplinary stack.

You will define specifications, make architecture decisions, and own outcomes, collaborating with mechanical, electrical, firmware, and data teams to ensure robust performance in real-world environments.

Qualifications

• Built optical systems operating outside controlled lab demos.
• Think in systems, not just ray traces.
• Understand how optical decisions impact mechanical tolerances and electrical noise.
• Surface limitations and risks clearly; prefer robust architectures.
• Stay composed debugging signal degradation in live systems.
• Take responsibility for signal integrity over time.

Responsibilities

• Own optical subsystems end-to-end within complex hardware platforms.
• Optical path architecture: illumination, detection, filtering, and signal optimization.
• Component selection with attention to stability, lifecycle, and manufacturability.
• Mechanical integration and alignment strategy under thermal and environmental constraints.
• Electrical integration of detectors and signal acquisition systems.
• Signal-to-noise optimization and drift mitigation.
• Calibration frameworks and long-term stability validation.
• Prototyping, stress testing, and failure analysis.
• Documentation and standards that enable scaling.

Skills

Optical design

Systems integration

Signal integrity

Ownership mindset

Education

Degree in optics, physics, or electrical engineering

Job description

About Becoming

Becoming is building Developmental Intelligence: AI for predicting how organisms change over time.

About Becoming

Becoming is building Developmental Intelligence: AI for predicting how organisms change over time.

Most experimental systems fail when metabolic demands become too high. We are building systems that don't — by combining engineered metabolic environments, sensing, control, and software into tightly integrated products that operate reliably over long time horizons.

Hardware is core to our platform. It must work continuously, predictably, and under real biological constraints.

It must work continuously, predictably, and under real biological constraints.

The Role

We are hiring an Optics Engineer to architect and own optical subsystems within Becoming's integrated hardware platform.

This is a senior builder role. You will design stable, production-grade optical systems that integrate tightly with mechanical structures, electronics, firmware, and data systems — and you will be accountable for their real‑world performance.

This is not a research imaging role. You will think in terms of alignment stability, signal integrity, manufacturability, and long‑duration runtime.

You will define specifications, make architecture decisions, and own outcomes.

What You'll Own

• End-to-end ownership of optical subsystems inside complex hardware platforms
• Optical path architecture: illumination, detection, filtering, and signal optimization
• Component selection with attention to stability, lifecycle, and manufacturability
• Mechanical integration and alignment strategy under thermal and environmental constraints
• Electrical integration of detectors and signal acquisition systems
• Signal-to-noise optimization and drift mitigation
• Calibration frameworks and long-term stability validation
• Prototyping, stress testing, and failure analysis
• Documentation and standards that enable scaling

Who You Are

You are someone who:

• Operates with high agency — you identify problems, define solutions, and execute
• Takes end-to-end ownership of what you build
• Brings high energy to complex, ambiguous engineering challenges
• Acts with high integrity — you are honest about tradeoffs, risks, and failure modes
• Communicates directly and clearly, especially when something won't work
• Is self-aware about your strengths and gaps, and proactively fills them
• Thinks like a systems integrator, not a narrow specialist
• Cares deeply about understanding systems at a first‑principles level

Requirements

• Have built optical systems that operated outside of controlled lab demos
• Think in systems, not just ray traces
• Understand how optical decisions impact mechanical tolerances and electrical noise
• Surface limitations and risks clearlyPrefer robust architectures over fragile precision
• Stay composed debugging signal degradation in live systems
• Raise the technical bar around you
• You take responsibility for whether the signal holds up over time — not just whether the design simulated correctly

Strong Signals

• Degree in optics, physics, electrical engineering, or equivalent demonstrated depth
• Experience designing and shipping integrated optical systems
• Strong first‑principles understanding of optical design and detection physics
• Experience integrating optics with mechanical and electrical platforms
• Demonstrated ownership of systems operating under real‑world constraints
• Ability to operate without rigid process scaffolding or heavy vendor abstraction

Benefits

• Competitive salary and meaningful equity
• Full benefits
• High‑trust, high‑ownership environment
• Rapid growth in scope and responsibility