Staff Optical Design Engineer

Neurophos
Austin
Workplace: OnsiteFull timeUSD 160,000 - 200,000 annuallyFunction: Design (Product/UX/UI/Visual)Experience: 5+ yearsEducation: phdSkills: ["Communication"]

Own the optical architecture and performance for Neurophos’ free-space optical path, taking designs from concept through production. Optimize and simulate complex optical systems using Zemax (tolerance, sensitivity, stray light/ghosting), and partner across optomechanical, photonics, electrical, and system engineering teams. Support lab bring-up, align/debug optical components, and represent optical design in system reviews while communicating risk and status to engineers and executives.

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Neurophos
Neurophos
3 days ago

Staff Optical Design Engineer

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Source: Company careers pageValidated by: Fursa AI
Last checked: 3 hours agoStatus: Live

Job Summary

Own the optical architecture and performance for Neurophos’ free-space optical path, taking designs from concept through production. Optimize and simulate complex optical systems using Zemax (tolerance, sensitivity, stray light/ghosting), and partner across optomechanical, photonics, electrical, and system engineering teams. Support lab bring-up, align/debug optical components, and represent optical design in system reviews while communicating risk and status to engineers and executives.
Location: Austin
Workplace: Onsite
Employment Type: Full time
Job Function: Design (Product/UX/UI/Visual)
Seniority: Mid level

Key Responsibilities

  • •Own the optical architecture and performance of the optical system/components from concept through production.
  • •Perform optical design/optimization and simulation for complex optical systems and components.
  • •Use Zemax or other tools for tolerance analysis, sensitivity, and stray light simulations.
  • •Collaborate with optomechanical, photonics, electrical, and system engineering teams, including external suppliers for DFM.
  • •Support laboratory efforts to align, debug, and characterize optical systems/components; communicate status, risk, and relevant requirement sections in system reviews.

Pay and Benefits

Salary: USD 160,000 - 200,000 annually
Equity and Bonus:Equity
Perks:Health InsuranceHsaPaid Leave401kEquityDentalVisionLife Insurance

Key Requirements

  • •Master’s or Ph.D. in Optical Science, Optical Engineering, Physics, or a tightly relevant technical track.
  • •5+ years of industry experience as an optical design engineer developing advanced optical systems from concept to market.
  • •Deep expertise in imaging optical system design, including beam shaping.
  • •Advanced knowledge of aberration theory, tolerancing, DFx, and ghost/straylight simulation.
  • •Proficiency using Zemax, LightTools, or other optical design software; ability to perform sequential and non-sequential ray tracing.
Experience:5+ yearsAI hardwareSilicon photonicsOptical designOptomechanicsStartup environment
Education:PhD / Doctorate in Optical Science, Optical Engineering, Physics
Skills:Communication
Tech Stack:ZemaxLightToolsPythonZemax Macro

Company Brief

Neurophos
Develops metamaterial-based photonic optical processing units (OPUs) to deliver high-performance, energy-efficient AI inference chips for datacenters, aiming to scale photonic compute to exaflop levels.
Industry: Deep Tech
Company Size: Small (11 to 50 employees)
Growth: Growth Stage Startup
Funding: Series A
Headquarters: Austin, United States
Founded: 2020
WebsiteLinkedIn