Senior Infrared Optical Engineer - Stray Light & Coatings

Muon Space, Inc.; Mountain View (CA); Remote; USD 166,000 - 223,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity grant

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401k retirement plan

Short & long term disability and life

Job summary

Muon Space is seeking a Senior Optical Engineer to own stray light control for infrared instruments. You will define requirements, specify custom coatings and filter components, and advance spectral performance through non-sequential ray tracing and metrology.

You will collaborate with vendors and internal teams to deliver hardware with rigorous specs, perform test plans, and help grow our coating and filter capabilities for space applications.

Qualifications

• BS/MS/PhD in engineering or physics or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years in optical systems focusing on stray light analysis, coatings, and procurement.
• Expertise in non-sequential ray tracing and stray light analysis software.
• Experience with thin-film coating design/analysis software.
• Proven track record defining rigorous specs and managing external vendors.
• Hands-on metrology equipment for coatings, filters, and scatter.
• Proficiency in Python or MATLAB for data analysis.
• Ability to obtain security clearance preferred.

Responsibilities

• Perform stray light analysis using appropriate software to quantify and mitigate stray light and scattering.
• Specify and analyze custom optical coatings and surface treatments to maximize transmission and environmental durability.
• Serve as technical liaison with optical component vendors.
• Drive R&D to advance coating technologies, filter survivability, and optical materials.
• Define test plans using metrology setups to verify vendor deliverables.
• Collaborate with designers to optimize baffle designs and optomechanical layouts.

Skills

Stray light analysis

Optical coatings

Non-sequential ray tracing

Python

MATLAB

Education

B.S./M.S./Ph.D. in engineering or physics

Tools

FRED

LightTools

TFCalc

Essential Macleod

OptiLayer

Job description

Muon Space is seeking a Senior Optical Engineer to own stray light control for infrared instruments. You will define requirements, specify custom coatings and filter components, and advance spectral performance through non-sequential ray tracing and metrology.

You will collaborate with vendors and internal teams to deliver hardware with rigorous specs, perform test plans, and help grow our coating and filter capabilities for space applications.