Manager, Instrument Design (Optical Engineering)

TL;DR

Manager, Instrument Design (Optical Engineering): Building and governing multispectral thermal infrared instruments for space-based and airborne remote sensing with an accent on optical architecture, optomechanical integration, and performance analysis. Focus on leading multidisciplinary engineers, defining error budgets and STOP workflows, managing optical vendors, and delivering precision instruments for satellite missions.

Location: Mountain View, California, United States; hybrid work with on-site attendance three days per week.

Salary: $184,000–$202,000 per year, plus equity and benefits.

Company

hirify.global designs, manufactures, and operates LEO satellite constellations and remote sensing payloads for climate monitoring, national security, and other Earth Intelligence applications.

What you will do

• Lead, mentor, hire, and develop a multidisciplinary team of optical and optomechanical engineers.
• Define technical architecture standards, development methodologies, review processes, error budgets, performance models, and STOP analysis workflows.
• Oversee precision optomechanical layouts, optical benches, mounting, alignment, stray-light analysis, coatings, and spectral filter specifications.
• Own technical specifications and vendor management for optical components and subsystems.
• Coordinate interfaces with mechanical, structural, thermal, mechanisms, systems engineering, and AIT teams.
• Serve as optical lead for internal R&D and provide technical leadership for early-stage missions.

Requirements

• Ph.D. with 3+ years, M.S. with 6+ years, or B.S. with 8+ years of relevant industry experience in optical engineering, optomechanical engineering, physics, or a related field.
• Direct experience developing space-based or airborne remote sensing hardware, especially multispectral thermal IR payloads or cryogenically cooled imaging systems.
• Expertise with sequential and non-sequential optical design and analysis tools such as Zemax, Code V, FRED, or LightTools.
• Strong optomechanical design knowledge, SolidWorks CAD review experience, and STOP analysis expertise.
• Experience with precision optical metrology, cleanroom alignment, environmental qualification testing, Python modeling, and data analysis.
• Must be eligible to access U.S. export-controlled information and willing and able to obtain required security clearance.

Nice to have

• Experience in matrixed engineering organizations and defining functional boundaries.
• Systems engineering experience, including requirements decomposition and verification and validation.

Culture & Benefits

• Full-time employment with equity compensation.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k), disability coverage, and life insurance.
• Three weeks of paid vacation for new employees, 12 paid holidays, unlimited sick time, and paid parental leave.
• Inclusive workplace focused on diversity, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodations.