K2 Space
Optical Engineer
$110K–$200K
Los Angeles, CA +1 · Full-time · Posted Sep 22, 2026
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles - Experience
- 1+ years of relevant experience; internships, co-ops, academic research, student engineering teams, and substantial personal projects count toward this requirement.
- Education
- Bachelor’s degree in optical engineering, physics, applied physics, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
- Visa sponsorship
- Must be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.
About the job
Develops and tests optical payload hardware and systems for spacecraft, from analysis and design through manufacturing, qualification, integration, and on-orbit operation.
What you'll do
- Build, align, calibrate, automate, and maintain free-space and fiber-optic test systems; plan experiments to characterize optical components and assemblies.
- Develop optical models, performance budgets, tolerance analyses, and data-processing tools, and use test results to inform requirements and design changes.
- Design and validate optical hardware and repeatable fabrication and assembly processes; support qualification, payload integration, flight readiness, and commissioning.
What they ask for
- Bachelor’s degree in a related technical field or equivalent practical experience.
- 1+ years of relevant experience; internships, co-ops, academic research, student engineering teams, and substantial personal projects count.
- Working knowledge of geometrical and physical optics.
- Familiarity with common free-space optical, fiber-optic, and optomechanical components.
Nice to have
- Hands-on experience building, aligning, testing, or troubleshooting an optical setup.
- Experience with technical data analysis or laboratory automation environments such as Python, MATLAB, or LabVIEW.
Pay
USD $110,000 - $200,000 base salary
Tools
Python, MATLAB, LabVIEW, OpticStudio, CODE V, FRED, LightTools, Lumerical
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative