Senior Specialist, Optical Engineering (Aerospace and Defense)

Location: Rochester, New York, US; onsite role with a 9/80 schedule, including every other Friday off.

Salary: $97,000–$180,000 per year in New York State.

Company

Defense technology organization delivering end-to-end solutions across space, air, land, sea, and cyber domains for national security customers.

What you will do

• Lead or support the design, analysis, development, and verification of advanced optical, imaging, sensing, and electro-optical systems.
• Analyze optical performance requirements including wavefront error, line of sight, distortion, focus, focal length, image quality, and related metrics.
• Create and review test plans, procedures, error budgets, requirements-verification artifacts, design-review materials, and final technical reports.
• Collaborate with optical, mechanical, electrical, systems, software, and manufacturing engineers to deliver manufacturable, testable, and integrated designs.
• Lead troubleshooting, root-cause analysis, hardware builds, laboratory demonstrations, integration activities, and verification campaigns.
• Coordinate technical execution with internal stakeholders, suppliers, external partners, leadership, and customers; mentor junior engineers and support risk mitigation.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree and at least 6 years of relevant experience, or a Graduate Degree and at least 4 years of related experience, or at least 10 years of related experience in lieu of a degree.
• Ability to obtain a federal security clearance.
• Strong optical system engineering experience with complex imaging or sensing systems across design, test, and verification.
• Experience with optical system architecture, performance modeling, optical analysis, and technical problem-solving throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Familiarity with optical design software such as CodeV and Zemax OpticStudio.
• Familiarity with programming languages such as MATLAB and Python.

Nice to have

• Active Secret or Top Secret/SCI clearance.
• Experience designing, manufacturing, integrating, testing, and completing sell-off of space-based EO/IR subsystems, payloads, vehicle systems, or high-performance imaging systems.
• Hands-on experience with interferometers, autocollimators, laser trackers, phase retrieval, and specialized metrology software including Zygo Mx and QED.NET.
• Experience with optical stray-light analysis and tools such as FRED.
• Ability to architect an end-to-end space system and understand the full product lifecycle.
• Experience with project management, cost estimation and management, and schedule creation and management for technology-development programs.
• Strong collaboration, communication, interpersonal, and leadership skills.

Culture & Benefits

• Inclusive and engaging work environment focused on professional growth, values, community commitment, and excellence.
• Health and disability insurance, 401(k) match, flexible spending accounts, and employee assistance program.
• Education assistance, parental leave, paid time off, and company-paid holidays.
• Pre-employment background checks and substance-abuse testing may apply.
• Security clearance eligibility may require U.S. citizenship; the employer participates in E-Verify.