Senior Optical Design Engineer — AI Imaging & Remote

SO-SEMI Technologies, LLC; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Opportunity for advancement

Job summary

Optopax, a Silicon Valley–based design and OEM company, seeks a Senior Optical Design Engineer to drive advanced optical systems from concept through validation for our imaging platforms.

You will design and simulate multi‑element optics, guide manufacturability and metrology, and mentor junior engineers while collaborating with cross‑functional teams. Remote US work is allowed with on‑site collaboration in San Jose, CA.

Qualifications

• Master’s or PhD in Optical Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
• Minimum 5+ years experience in optical design and engineering—ideally handling advanced, multi‑element systems.
• High proficiency with optical design and simulation tools (e.g., Zemax, Code V and others).
• Strong fundamentals in geometrical and physical optics design methodology, optical fabrication techniques, DFM, tolerancing, and metrology.
• Experience in design documentation and cross‑functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, simulation, tolerancing, and optimization of complex optical systems using tools such as Ansys Optics Studio (Zemax), Code V, LightTools, Lumerical, Quadoa, or equivalent.
• Perform stray‑light, ray‑trace, wavefront, photon budget, and design for manufacturability (DFM) analyses (e.g., Monte‑Carlo tolerancing).
• Translate customer specifications into detailed design requirements; collaborate across mechanical, electrical, firmware/software, and manufacturing teams for system integration and prototyping.
• Guide validation of designs via lab testing, metrology, and performance measurement (e.g., MTF, distortion, SNR, wavefront).
• Mentor and support junior optical engineers and cross‑functional partners, establishing design best practices and documentation.
• Drive innovation through research into new optical technologies, materials, coatings, and manufacturing techniques, informing future product strategies.
• Drive critical technical communications / negotiations with customers to ensure optical solutions align with performance, cost, and manufacturability goals.

Skills

Optical engineering

Cross-functional teamwork

Documentation

Education

MS/PhD in optics

Tools

Zemax

Code V

LightTools

Lumerical

Ansys Optics Studio

Job description

Optopax, a Silicon Valley–based design and OEM company, seeks a Senior Optical Design Engineer to drive advanced optical systems from concept through validation for our imaging platforms.

You will design and simulate multi‑element optics, guide manufacturability and metrology, and mentor junior engineers while collaborating with cross‑functional teams. Remote US work is allowed with on‑site collaboration in San Jose, CA.