Specialist, Manufacturing Engineering (Optical Processing)

Harris Geospatial Solutions; City of Rochester (NY); On-site; USD 81,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) match

Education assistance

Job summary

L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, NY, is seeking a dedicated Optical Process Engineer to support conventional optical fabrication for high-precision components. You will develop and optimize grinding, lapping, and polishing processes, define workholding, and establish inspection steps to meet tight tolerances.

This hands-on role requires collaboration with quality and metrology teams and the ability to obtain a U.S. security clearance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Optical, or related engineering field with 4+ years of relevant experience.
• Graduate degree with at least 2 years of related experience; or 8 years of experience in lieu of a degree.
• Ability to obtain a federal security clearance.
• Experience with conventional optical fabrication methods and materials.

Responsibilities

• Develop, optimize, and sustain conventional fabrication processes for high-precision optical components, including grinding, lapping, and polishing.
• Provide daily technical support to operators, technicians, and manufacturing personnel.
• Troubleshoot process issues and perform root-cause analysis using metrology results.
• Collaborate with quality, metrology, and planning teams to implement improvements.
• Establish blocking/deblocking, process plans, and in-process inspection steps.

Skills

Optical fabrication

Process engineering

Root-cause analysis

Metrology proficiency

Cross-functional teamwork

Troubleshooting

Materials knowledge

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Optical, or related engineering field

Graduate degree in related engineering field

8 years of related experience in lieu of degree

Job description

L3Harris is dedicated to recruiting and developing high-performing talent who are passionate about what they do. Our employees are unified in a shared dedication to our customers’ mission and quest for professional growth. L3Harris provides an inclusive, engaging environment designed to empower employees and promote work-life success. Fundamental to our culture is an unwavering focus on values, dedication to our communities, and commitment to excellence in everything we do.

L3Harris is the Trusted Disruptor in defense tech. With customers’ mission-critical needs always in mind, our employees deliver end-to-end technology solutions connecting the space, air, land, sea and cyber domains in the interest of national security.

Job Title: Specialist, Manufacturing Engineer (Optical Processing)

Job Code: 44614

Job Location: Rochester, New York

Job Schedule: 5/8, Employees work 8 hours per day, 5 days a week Monday-Friday

Job Description

L3Harris’s Optics department in Rochester, NY, is seeking a dedicated Optical Process Engineer to support the production of top-tier optical components for advanced astronomical, high-energy laser, and earth imaging applications. As an Optical Process Engineer specializing in conventional optical fabrication, you will play a key role in developing and improving manufacturing processes used to produce mission-critical optical components. You’ll leverage your expertise in conventional grinding, lapping, and polishing to improve process consistency, product quality, and throughput across our optical fabrication work center.

This is a hands-on engineering role where you will support production, troubleshoot process issues, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and help ensure our conventional optical fabrication operations meet demanding optical tolerances and production goals. You’ll have the opportunity to improve manufacturing capability, support new product introduction, and directly influence the quality and repeatability of next-generation optical products.

Essential Functions

• Develop, optimize, and sustain conventional fabrication processes for high-precision optical components, including grinding, loose-abrasive lapping, and polishing of optical materials such as fused silica, Zerodur, ULE, or SiC.
• Support fabrication improvement projects that enhance yield, repeatability, throughput, and process capability.
• Introduce new optical designs into manufacturing by creating process plans, selecting tooling, defining workholding methods, and establishing in-process inspection steps.
• Establish and optimize blocking and deblocking processes for a range of optical geometries and materials, with consideration for alignment, bond integrity, thermal effects, removal forces, and risk of part damage during fabrication.
• Apply structured problem-solving to diagnose fabrication issues using root-cause analysis, process data, operator feedback, and metrology results.
• Partner with quality and metrology teams to verify product conformance and improve correlation between in-process measurements and final optical requirements.
• Collaborate across engineering, manufacturing, quality, and planning to standardize best practices and implement process improvements.
• Provide daily technical support to operators, technicians, and manufacturing personnel within the conventional optical fabrication area.
• Practical knowledge of conventional optical fabrication processes, including grinding, lapping, and polishing.
• Demonstrated ability to support and improve technical processes in a manufacturing environment.
• Experience working with optical materials such as glass, crystals, or ceramics.
• Proficiency with process troubleshooting, root-cause investigation, and interpretation of metrology results.
• Ability to collaborate across functions and support adoption of process improvements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Optical, or related engineering field and minimum 4 years of prior relevant experience. Graduate Degree and a minimum of 2 years of prior related experience. In lieu of a degree, minimum of 8 years of prior related experience.
• Ability to obtain a federal security clearance.

Preferred Additional Skills

• Experience with conventional optical fabrication methods such as curve generation, fine grinding, lapping, pitch polishing, and related finishing processes.
• Familiarity with optical materials such as fused silica, BK7, Zerodur, ULE, sapphire, silicon, or optical ceramics.
• Working knowledge of optical metrology methods including interferometry, profilometry, spherometry, thickness measurement, and cosmetic inspection.
• Ability to interpret optical drawings and specifications, including figure, power, wedge, thickness, centration, scratch-dig, and surface quality requirements.
• Experience with root-cause analysis, SPC, process capability analysis, and continuous improvement methods.
• Understanding of tooling, fixtures, consumables, and workholding methods used in conventional optical grinding and polishing.
• Background in design for manufacturability for optical components.
• Strong, specialized knowledge of optical fabrication consistent with mid level technical roles.

In compliance with pay transparency requirements, the salary range for this role in New York state is $73,000 - $135,000. This is not a guarantee of compensation or salary, as final offer amount may vary based on factors including but not limited to experience and geographic location. L3Harris also offers a variety of benefits, including health and disability insurance, 401(k) match, flexible spending accounts, EAP, education assistance, parental leave, paid time off, and company-paid holidays. The specific programs and options available to an employee may vary depending on date of hire, schedule type, and the applicability of collective bargaining agreements.

L3Harris Technologies is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. L3Harris is committed to treating all employees and applicants for employment with respect and dignity and maintaining a workplace that is free from unlawful discrimination. All applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or other related medical conditions), gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, disability, genetic information, citizenship status, characteristic or membership in any other group protected by federal, state or local laws. L3Harris maintains a drug‑free workplace and performs pre‑employment substance abuse testing and background checks, where permitted by law.

Please be aware many of our positions require the ability to obtain a security clearance. Security clearances may only be granted to U.S. citizens. In addition, applicants who accept a conditional offer of employment may be subject to government security investigation(s) and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.

By submitting your resume for this position, you understand and agree that L3Harris Technologies may share your resume, as well as any other related personal information or documentation you provide, with its subsidiaries and affiliated companies for the purpose of considering you for other available positions.

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