Senior Optical Engineer

Garmin Ltd.; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Garmin Ltd. seeks a Senior Optical Engineer to lead complex optical designs and simulations in Portland, OR. The role involves coordinating with cross-functional teams, defining test plans, and ensuring manufacturability within cost targets.

You will mentor junior engineers and work with vendors on materials and components, contributing to product development and advanced technology exploration.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to perform complex optical design and simulations.
• Experience interpreting qualification tests and impact on design.
• Experience with optical manufacturing processes and vendor selection.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex optical designs or simulations for consumer/aerospace products.
• Coordinate with cross-functional teams to ensure manufacturability.
• Define test plans and validate performance against requirements.
• Mentor junior optical engineers and review design work.
• Engage with vendors for materials and components.

Skills

Optical design

Tolerance analysis

Vendor collaboration

Problem solving

Education

Master's degree in Optical Engineering or Physics

Bachelor's degree with 5 years experience

Tools

ZEMAX

Code V

LightTools

TracePro

Interferometers

Job description

Overview

Garmin Int’l Inc. seeks Senior Optical Engineer (Portland, OR; multiple positions): Under general direction, provides technical leadership and project planning for complex optical designs, technologies, or systems that are new for Garmin.

Essential Functions

• Complete complex optical designs (sequential or non-sequential) OR simulations/analysis (such as tolerancing or stray light) on optical systems incorporating a variety of surface/object types, such as aspheric lenses, prisms, projected graphics, optical coatings, collimated optical systems, and illumination systems
• Negotiates with cross functional teams to develop robust optical designs considering manufacturable tolerances, dimensional space constraints and appropriate testability
• Specify test plans to validate very complex systems with complex performance requirements
• Mentors and develops clear guidance for less experienced Optical Engineers
• Direct and coordinate the manufacture of moderately complex optical prototypes
• Serves as Optical Engineering project lead and may be Project Engineer for complex project, providing system level oversight and technical direction, design overview ownership and communication of status updates
• Participates in design reviews, providing comments on optical design aspects and other engineering areas
• Provides technical input to product development plans and concept documents as well as advanced technical research on new technologies
• Estimates complex optical designs including tooling, part cost and design time
• Effectively communicates complex optical requirements to external vendors and negotiates to achieve acceptable performance and cost
• Interprets industry and Garmin qualifications to determine relevance and impact on product design

Basic Qualifications

Masters in Optical Engineering or Physics, or related and 3 years of optical engineering work experience:

Must show demonstrated ability in the following:

• Using one or more optical simulation software tools (ZEMAX, Code V, Light Tools, TracePro, etc.)
• Interpreting industry qualification tests and determining their relevance and impact on product design
• Using optical test equipment (such as collimators, spectrophotometers, interferometers, MTF benches, etc.) for tight tolerance alignment in the manufacture of optical systems
• Prioritizing and completing moderately complex tasks and projects in optical engineering or design
• Sufficient knowledge of optical manufacturing processes such as machining, polishing, molding, and optical coatings in order to properly prepare drawings, specifications, and to identify capable vendors for new optics.
• Optical design experience for consumer or aviation products
• Experience working with vendors in sourcing part materials for basic part production and performance

In lieu of a Master’s plus 3 years of experience, will accept a Bachelor’s degree in same plus 5 years of progressive optical engineering work experience.

#non-indexed

Garmin International is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran’s status, age or disability.

This position is eligible for Garmin's benefit program. Details can be found here: Garmin Benefits