Senior Optical Systems Engineer

Location: Los Angeles, California, Onsite
Compensation: Typically 190,000 to 240,000 USD for strong candidates
U.S. Citizenship Required
Relocation support available

Darwin Space are partnered with an exciting national security space company who are building advanced small satellites for high impact government missions. They are expanding their Optical Engineering organisation with a Senior Optical Systems Engineer who will support the design, modelling and integration of electro optical and infrared payloads on next generation spacecraft.

They are specifically looking for candidates who sit in the senior team, ideally with seven or more years of optical systems engineering experience.

This role suits someone who enjoys design, simulation, modelling and payload to spacecraft interface definition. Experience working between a spacecraft bus and its EO or IR payload is highly desirable. Backgrounds involving space lasers, laser communications, active sensors or optical phenomenology are particularly attractive.

Although this company requires U.S. citizenship, this role does not require an active clearance at the time of application.

Role Overview

The Senior Optical Systems Engineer will be responsible for defining, modelling and validating the performance of optical payloads and their interfaces with the spacecraft bus and mission data processing systems. You will own mission performance requirements for remote sensing or space‑to‑space missions, model phenomenology and detection performance and guide the integration of EO, IR or laser communication payloads into flight systems.

This is an end to end optical systems role supporting mission design, simulation, payload integration, test and on orbit validation.

Key Responsibilities

Optical Systems Architecture

• Develop and validate requirements for EO and IR sensors, laser systems and optical communication terminals
• Define and manage interfaces between payloads, spacecraft bus and mission processing systems
• Support mission performance budgeting, detection modelling and phenomenology studies

Modelling and Simulation

• Build and implement modelling and simulation tools to evaluate mission performance
• Perform analysis of optical payload performance including radiometric modelling, imaging performance and detection thresholds
• Support the development of OCT link budgets and system level optical models

Testing and Validation

• Develop and execute unit and system level tests on the ground and in orbit
• Validate sensor and optical system performance against mission expectations
• Support calibration and on orbit performance evaluation

Supplier and Partner Management

• Manage supplier performance and technical deliverables
• Support integration and qualification of optical hardware

Program Support and Leadership

• Coordinate work statements, manage schedule and track technical progress
• Contribute to proposals and new business opportunities
• Mentor junior engineers and support technical decision making

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Physics, Computer Science or a related field
• Seven or more years of industry experience in optical engineering
• Experience with space to space or space to ground laser communication
• Experience with performance modelling of space based EO sensors
• Experience with optical phenomenology, detection models or simulation
• Ability to obtain a U.S. security clearance (U.S. citizenship required)

Preferred Qualifications

• Ten or more years working with satellite optical instrumentation, design or operations
• Experience mentoring other engineers
• On orbit experience validating OCT or optical payload performance
• Experience designing, integrating and testing EO and IR payloads, star trackers, laser range finders or other satellite optical hardware
• Experience processing optical data to extract mission relevant information