Optical Engineer (Defense)

Location: Paris, France; on-site

Company

hirify.global is a defense technology startup building autonomous and scalable systems for allied forces.

What you will do

• Design and size EO/IR imaging payloads, balancing field of view, resolution, detection range, and sensor selection.
• Select lenses and sensors or lead custom optical designs against image quality and robustness targets.
• Design, build, maintain, and validate optical test benches for development, production, and integration.
• Measure and validate MTF, focus, boresight, distortion, and infrared NETD.
• Develop camera calibration pipelines covering intrinsic and extrinsic parameters, distortion, photometric correction, and radiometric correction.
• Integrate optics into mechanical assemblies and investigate optical issues from prototypes through series production, including supplier and field-test support.

Requirements

• Master’s or engineering degree specializing in optics.
• 3+ years of optical engineering experience, ideally with camera or imaging systems.
• Experience sizing electro-optical or infrared optical systems.
• Hands-on experience with camera calibration, MTF, NETD, and optical test benches.
• Solid knowledge of image processing, including distortion, gamma, geometric correction, and photometric correction.
• Hands-on, rigorous, pragmatic, and able to work autonomously in a startup environment.

Nice to have

• Experience with thermal cameras.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on mission-critical autonomous defense systems with real-world impact.
• Collaborate with mechanical, electronics, software, computer vision, and industrialization teams.
• Operate in a demanding environment focused on rigor, ownership, technical excellence, and execution.
• Follow products from sizing and prototyping through validation and mass production.