Staff Optical Engineer, AI&T

Anduril Industries is a defense technology company with a mission to transform U.S. and allied military capabilities with advanced technology. By bringing the expertise, technology, and business model of the 21st century’s most innovative companies to the defense industry, Anduril is changing how military systems are designed, built and sold. Anduril’s family of systems is powered by Lattice OS, an AI-powered operating system that turns thousands of data streams into a realtime, 3D command and control center. As the world enters an era of strategic competition, Anduril is committed to bringing cutting-edge autonomy, AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, and networking technology to the military in months, not years.

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Anduril Imaging team develops state-of-the-art imaging systems across both hardware and software, deployed to tackle the most significant security challenges of America and its allies. The team is heavily involved in utilizing computer vision, perception, electro-optical, infrared, and sensor data to give our war fighters and allies an advantage.

ABOUT THE JOB

The Imaging team is seeking an Optical Engineer to focus on assembly, integration, and testing in support of a new product lines. In this role, you will work closely with an interdisciplinary technical team to own procurement, optical assembly, integration, and test activities as we mature prototypes into products. Successful candidates will have experience building, validating, and delivering environmentally rugged optical systems in both prototype and production environments.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Lead the assembly, integration and test for novel optical systems
• Work with optical suppliers to procure optical elements, including regular status updates, technical oversight, acceptance test verification, and anomaly resolutions.
• Generate alignment plans and procedures
• Align optical systems with equipment including autocollimators, theodolites, alignment telescopes, interferometers, lens alignment stations, and various other mechanical methods
• Manage integration and test vendors to successfully scale production of complex infrared assemblies.
• Develop and review test setups, procedures, and data to transition products and systems from R&D to production
• Evaluate and analyze prototype and production optical system performance errors to determine root cause
• Interface with test and evaluation teams to qualify optical performance through lab, field, and airborne testing.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• BS in Engineering or Physics/Astronomy required with a concentration in Optics
• 5+ years of experience with complex opto-mechanical systems, performing optical assembly, integration, and testing in the workforce
• Knowledge of how electro-optical systems are specified, developed, manufactured, and tested
• Experience with optical tolerancing, lens manufacturing methods, and drawing standards
• Knowledge and experience laboratory testing including optical component testing experience (spectral transmission, interferometry, etc.), optical system alignment, and testing (EE, MTF, PSF, etc.)
• Demonstrated experience in the integration, test, and performance requirements verification and validation of optical systems
• Experience in prototype and production development, including requirements validation
• Experience with optical design and analysis software (Zemax or CODE V)
• Data analysis proficiency in Matlab, Python, or similiar
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• MS or PhD in Optics
• Demonstrated first principles approach to complex opto-mechanical problems
• Knowledge of image quality metrics and data analysis methods
• Experience with the test and evaluation of optical systems through thermally and vibrationally dynamic environments.
• Demonstrated team leadership experience and mentoring of junior staff
• Knowledge of common materials used in infrared optical systems and limitations of fabrication methods of optics (molded, polished, diamond turned)
• Strong optomechanical engineering background, with experience in lens bonding and retention, athermalization, and mount design.
• Experience with Zygo MX, 4D 4Sight, or Apre Reveal interferometry software

US Salary Range

$220,000—$292,000 USD

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers; and are considered part of Anduril's total compensation package. Additionally, Anduril offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees, including: 

Benefits

At Anduril, we invest in our people. Our comprehensive, competitive benefits package (available at little to no cost to employees) ensures you’re supported in health, recovery, and whatever comes next. For more information, Explore Our Benefits.

Protecting Yourself from Recruitment Scams

Anduril is committed to maintaining the integrity of our Talent acquisition process and the security of our candidates. We've observed a rise in sophisticated phishing and fraudulent schemes where individuals impersonate Anduril representatives, luring job seekers with false interviews or job offers. These scammers often attempt to extract payment or sensitive personal information.

To ensure your safety and help you navigate your job search with confidence, please keep the following critical points in mind:

• No Financial Requests: Anduril will never solicit payment or demand personal financial details (such as banking information, credit card numbers, or social security numbers) at any stage of our hiring process. Our legitimate recruitment is entirely free for candidates.

• Please always verify communications:

• Direct from Anduril: If you receive an email from one of our recruiters, it will only come from an @anduril.com address.

• Via Agency Partner: If contacted by a recruiting agency for an Anduril role, their email will clearly identify their agency. If you suspect any suspicious activity, please verify the agency's authenticity by reaching out to contact@anduril.com. 

• Exercise Caution with Unsolicited Outreach: If you receive any communication that appears suspicious, contains grammatical errors, or makes unusual requests, do not engage. Always confirm the sender's email domain is @anduril.com before providing any personal information or clicking on links.

• What to Do If You Suspect Fraud: Should you encounter any questionable or fraudulent outreach claiming to be from Anduril, please report it immediately to contact@anduril.com. Your proactive caution is invaluable in protecting your personal information and upholding the security and trustworthiness of our recruitment efforts.

Data Privacy

To view Anduril's candidate data privacy policy, please visit https://anduril.com/applicant-privacy-notice/. 

By submitting your application, you consent to Anduril Industries using a third-party service provider to conduct pre-employment risk, integrity, and due diligence screening and assessing potential risks as part of your application process. This third-party service provider provides risk-intelligence services that may include analysis of sanctions and watchlists, adverse media, public-record information, and other lawful open-source or commercial data sources. This third-party service provider does not act as a consumer reporting agency. Use of this provider helps to ensure compliance with applicable laws and protect technology, intellectual property, and organizational security.