Blue Origin · 15 hours ago
Senior Optical Systems Design Engineer – Optical Ground Terminals - TeraWave
Bay Area, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level, Lead/Staff
$145K/yr - $203K/yr
10+ years expBlue Origin is a company focused on developing technologies for space exploration and habitation. They are seeking a Senior Optical Systems Design Engineer to lead the architectural design and development of optical communication systems for their TeraWave satellite network, which aims to provide high-speed data transfer capabilities. The role involves overseeing technical direction, collaborating with interdisciplinary teams, and ensuring operational success of optical systems.
AerospaceManufacturingNational SecurityRenewable Energy
No H1B
U.S. Citizen Only
Responsibilities
Lead the architectural design and technical direction for ground optical communications systems incorporating:
Large telescope and gimbal assemblies, including telescope arrays
High-power and low-noise optical fiber amplifiers
Pointing, acquisition, and tracking systems
Adaptive optics systems
Conduct trade studies between different optical architectures and configurations
Lead optical system modeling, analysis, and performance simulation including tolerance and stray light analysis
Collaborate with team members regarding the end-to-end characterization, modeling, and mitigation of atmospheric turbulence for high-bandwidth laser communication systems, from system architecture and algorithm development to integration and field testing
Contribute to technology roadmap planning and provide technical oversight for subsystem development and integration
Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, software, and thermal engineers on interdisciplinary design challenges
Develop system requirements, specifications, performance budgets, error budgets, and interface control documents that balance performance, cost, and schedule
Develop ConOps, calibration/alignment procedures and commissioning plans
Play a meaningful role in design for assembly and manufacturability
Collaborate to develop automation strategies for optical system alignment, calibration, and operational procedures
Qualification
Required
MS or PhD in Optical Engineering, Physics, or related field
10+ years of experience in optical systems engineering with progressive responsibilities
Demonstrated expertise in free-space optical communication ground systems
Proficiency with optical system design tools (Zemax, Code V, etc.)
Experience with large-aperture telescope systems and pointing requirements
Advanced knowledge of mode-matching techniques and optimization of free-space to/from single-mode fiber coupling efficiency
Previous experience in adaptive optics, wavefront sensing, and wavefront correction techniques
Knowledgeable regarding atmospheric absorption and scattering impacts on optical space-to-ground and ground-to-space links
Familiarity with fiber optic coupling challenges and solutions
Previous experience with infrared cameras and sensors for tracking
Experience developing or managing integrated performance of optical systems including understanding of optical loss and throughput budgets, wavefront error, Structural-Thermal-Optical Performance (STOP) analysis, and precision pointing
Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams
Preferred
15+ years of experience in optical systems engineering with progressive leadership responsibility
Previous work with space-to-ground optical communications links
Proven track record as a lead engineer on similar programs
Experience with at least one additional industry-standard mechanical CAD platform (SolidWorks, CREO, etc.)
Experience with atmospheric optical turbulence theory and compensation
Proven expertise in atmospheric optics and hands-on experience implementing adaptive optics (AO) control systems to correct for turbulence
Experience taking a complete laser communication system from lab to field, including link performance analysis and hardware validation
Understanding of fundamental physics and operation of optical amplifier technologies (EDFA, EYDFA, Raman, etc.)
Knowledge of advanced and camera-free adaptive optics systems for optical communications such as multi-plane light conversion and photonic lantern techniques
Strong background in coherent optical communications principles
Experience with optical metrology and testing of complex systems
In-depth expertise and publications regarding atmospheric absorption and scattering impacts on optical space-to-ground and ground-to-space links
Previous experience with anti-reflective and band pass filter dielectric optical coatings
Experience in high power fiber lasers and thermal lensing
Program management experience for large optical system development
Benefits
Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance
Paid parental leave
Short and long-term disability
401(k) with a company match of up to 5%
Education Support Program
Paid Time Off: Up to four (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays.
Company
Blue Origin
Blue Origin is an aerospace company that focuses on lowering the cost of spaceflight and helping to explore the solar system.
10001+ employees
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$185.35MKey Investors
NASAUnited States Space Force
2024-02-20Secondary Market
2024-01-24Undisclosed· $18M
2021-12-03Grant· $130M
Leadership Team
David Limp
Chief Executive Officer
Tim Collins
Vice President, Global Supply Chain
Recent News
2026-02-05
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