Remote Sensing & Spectroscopy Scientist

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab; Laurel (MD); On-site; USD 100,000 - 245,000; Full time

Job summary

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is seeking a motivated scientist or engineer to advance our work in remote sensing, applied spectroscopy, material characterization, and novel EO/IR instrumentation. As a member of the Optics and Photonics Group, your work will help inform decision makers in the defense community to solve our nation’s critical challenges.

You will contribute to system modeling and model validation through real world data collection, data analysis and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in electrical engineering, chemistry, physics, optics, or related field.
• Minimum of 5 years in development, application, and characterization of spectroscopic measurement systems and optical instrumentation.
• Strong teamwork and cross‑disciplinary collaboration experience.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills for briefings and reports.
• Eligibility to obtain Interim Secret clearance and, eventually, Secret clearance; U.S. citizenship required.

Responsibilities

• Identify and execute technical courses of action to meet mission requirements, including modeling, data analysis, hardware development, and lab/field experiments.
• Mentor and train staff to build world‑class expertise.
• Support design, modeling, and testing of advanced optics and photonics systems (EO/IR sensors, radiometric measurements, spectroscopy).
• Collaborate with systems engineers to understand mission requirements and improve them.
• Document work in formal/informal reports, presentations, proceedings, and journal articles.

Skills

Modeling & data analysis

Team collaboration

Communication (oral & written)

Mentoring staff

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in electrical engineering/physics/chemistry/optics

Ph.D. (preferred)

5+ years experience in spectroscopic measurement systems

Tools

MODTRAN

HITRAN

HITEMP

Job description

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is seeking a motivated scientist or engineer to advance our work in remote sensing, applied spectroscopy, material characterization, and novel EO/IR instrumentation. As a member of the Optics and Photonics Group, your work will help inform decision makers in the defense community to solve our nation’s critical challenges.

You will contribute to system modeling and model validation through real world data collection, data analysis and