K2 Space
Senior Photonics Engineer, Free-Space Optics
$150K–$220K
Los Angeles, CA +1 · Senior · Full-time · Posted Oct 23, 2026
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles - Experience
- 5+ years; a relevant PhD counts toward this.
- Education
- Bachelor's degree in optics, physics, electrical engineering, or a related technical field.
- 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
Defines and validates atmospheric channel models and free-space optical hardware through laboratory experiments, outdoor links, and field campaigns, translating measurements into requirements for optical payload teams.
What you'll do
- Design and run turbulence-emulation experiments, integrate optical receivers and correction hardware, and measure link performance.
- Build and calibrate Python optical propagation models against lab and field data; use results to set requirements and guide the test roadmap.
- Lead outdoor and observatory campaigns, automate experiment data pipelines, and mentor supporting engineers and technicians.
What they ask for
- Bachelor's degree in optics, physics, electrical engineering, or a related technical field.
- 5+ years of hands-on free-space optics experience in free-space optical communications, adaptive optics, or atmospheric propagation; a relevant PhD counts toward this.
- Led end-to-end free-space optical experiments, from bench design and alignment through data collection and model correlation.
- Working knowledge of optical turbulence and propagation theory, and Python for modeling and analysis.
Nice to have
- MS or PhD in optics, physics, or a related field.
- Experience with adaptive optics, photonic integrated circuits, field campaigns, remote sensing, wave-optics simulation tools, or Zemax.
Pay
$150,000 - $220,000 USD base salary
Tools
Python, spatial light modulators, Shack-Hartmann sensors, deformable mirrors, AOTools, WaveProp, Zemax
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative