Optical Engineer, Waveguide Experiments (AR)

Location: Abingdon, United Kingdom; expected to work in an office 4+ days per week

Salary: £93,000–£116,000 per year

Company

hirify.global develops hirify.globalchat, Specs advanced eyewear, hirify.global OS, Lens Studio, Bitmoji, and other digital services.

What you will do

• Develop experimental methods to deepen understanding of augmented reality waveguide physics.
• Build optical and physical models to interpret laboratory experiments.
• Design, build, align, and automate optical laboratory setups.
• Analyze waveguides using proprietary and commercial tools and perform root-cause analysis of display failures.
• Run experiments on diffractive nanostructures to improve measurement-to-prediction correlation and optical performance.
• Collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams on waveguide bring-up, debugging, and performance improvements.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Optical Engineering, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or a related engineering field.
• 3+ years of hands-on research experience in optical metrology.
• Strong knowledge of optics, diffraction theory, polarization, interferometry, phase retrieval, and experimental error analysis.
• Hands-on experience setting up and aligning optical systems, including lasers, fiber optics, detectors, and cameras.
• Strong scripting and data analysis skills in Python or a similar language, plus experience with equipment automation and control.
• Strong planning, communication, reasoning, collaboration, and problem-solving skills for high-risk R&D projects.

Nice to have

• PhD in Optical Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
• Theoretical and experimental research experience in diffractive AR waveguides.
• Experience with nanophotonics device manufacturing, optical coatings, or nanoscale metrology using SEM and AFM.
• Experience with optical system design tools such as Zemax, CodeV, FRED, or ASAP.
• Experience with wave-optical modeling tools such as Lumerical, RSoft, COMSOL, or MEEP.

Culture & Benefits

• 12-month fixed-term contract.
• Default-together work approach with in-office collaboration expected 4+ days per week.
• Paid parental leave and comprehensive medical coverage.
• Emotional and mental health support programs.
• Compensation packages that support participation in hirify.global’s long-term success.