Optical Design Engineer (Principal/Senior)

Mantis Space is a venture-backed aerospace company pioneering breakthrough technologies to build the first energy infrastructure in space. Headquartered in New Mexico—the cornerstone of U.S. defense R&D and a growing hub of the nation’s Space Valley—we are building from the ground up to accelerate the next generation of satellite and orbital energy infrastructure.

Our veteran-led team brings decades of leadership across space, defense, and advanced R&D, with experience at Google, Meta, AeroVironment/BlueHalo, Terran Orbital, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Space Telescope Science Institute, and Apple. With deep expertise in optics, photonics, and space systems, we are designing and delivering the infrastructure that will power the future of orbital energy and advanced aerospace operations.

Why Join Us:

About the Role: 

Mantis Space is seeking a Senior/Principal Optical Design Engineer to join our Optical Engineering team and support the development of advanced space-based optical systems for power beaming and other high-performance space applications.

This is a highly technical, hands-on role focused on taking optical systems from early architecture and concept development through detailed design, analysis, fabrication, integration, test, and flight qualification.

You will contribute deep expertise in optical design and analysis, including optical modeling, tolerancing, sensitivity analysis, STOP and thermo-optical analysis, stray light and scattering analysis, optical error budgeting, requirements flowdown, and verification planning.

The ideal candidate combines strong optical engineering fundamentals with practical experience developing precision optical hardware. You understand that a successful optical system must not only perform well in simulation, but also be fabricated, aligned, integrated, tested, qualified, and operated in a demanding space environment.

You will work closely with mechanical, thermal, structural, controls, systems, manufacturing, and test engineers to translate mission requirements into robust optical architectures and flight-ready hardware.

For candidates operating at the Principal level, this role will also serve as a technical authority and subject matter expert, helping establish optical engineering standards, analysis methodologies, design practices, and technical direction across the organization.

Key Responsibilities

Develop, analyze, and document optical architectures and detailed designs supporting space-based power beaming and other advanced optical applications.

Build, maintain, and validate optical models using tools such as Zemax OpticStudio, Code V, FRED, ASAP, or equivalent.

Perform optical architecture trades involving aperture, beam quality, efficiency, packaging, manufacturability, alignment sensitivity, thermal stability, and system-level performance.

Develop and maintain optical performance budgets, including wavefront error, beam quality, transmission, pointing sensitivity, diffraction, scattering, and other mission-relevant performance metrics.

Perform optical tolerancing, sensitivity analysis, alignment analysis, and optical error budgeting for components, assemblies, and system-level interfaces.

Translate mission and system requirements into optical requirements, budgets, assumptions, interfaces, and verification approaches.

Support optomechanical design maturation by defining optical surface specifications, coatings, materials, alignment datums, interfaces, inspection criteria, and optical performance requirements.

Collaborate with mechanical engineers on optical mounts, interfaces, precision assemblies, mechanisms, and released engineering drawings.

Perform or support STOP, thermo-optical, structural-optical, stray light, scattering, and ghost analyses.

Evaluate the effects of thermal gradients, structural deformation, contamination, vibration, alignment errors, and other environmental conditions on optical performance.

Work with thermal and structural engineers to incorporate analysis results into optical models and predict system performance across operational and environmental conditions.

Develop optical error budgets and allocate performance requirements across optical, mechanical, thermal, controls, and manufacturing contributors.

Support optical alignment planning, including alignment tolerances, datums, metrology requirements, adjustment strategies, and verification methods.

Support optical fabrication, inspection, assembly, integration, and test activities.

Review optical fabrication and inspection documentation, including surface figure, surface quality, coatings, materials, dimensional tolerances, and optical performance requirements.

Develop and maintain technical documentation, including optical design reports, trade studies, analysis reports, interface control documents, requirements, performance budgets, and verification plans.

Present optical performance, design trades, analysis results, technical risks, and recommended mitigations during internal design reviews and technical discussions.

Participate in design reviews, hardware reviews, manufacturing reviews, integration activities, and environmental test campaigns.

Identify opportunities to improve optical performance, reduce system complexity, decrease mass and cost, improve manufacturability, and increase reliability.

Collaborate with manufacturing partners, optical fabricators, coating vendors, and specialty suppliers to resolve technical issues and ensure successful hardware development.

Contribute to the development of optical engineering standards, design practices, analysis methodologies, and technical best practices.

Required Qualifications

Master’s degree in Optical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.

8+ years of professional experience in optical design, optical systems engineering, or precision optical systems development for Senior-level candidates.

12+ years of relevant experience preferred for Principal-level candidates.

Demonstrated experience designing and analyzing complex optical systems using Zemax OpticStudio, Code V, FRED, ASAP, or equivalent tools.

Strong experience with optical tolerancing, sensitivity analysis, alignment planning, and optical error budgeting.

Strong understanding of geometric optics, physical optics, diffraction, wavefront error, scattering, and optical system performance.

Experience developing optical systems in collaboration with mechanical engineering teams and supporting optomechanical interfaces and released engineering drawings.

Familiarity with optical fabrication and inspection requirements, including surface figure, surface quality, coatings, materials, dimensional tolerances, and metrology.

Experience developing technical design documentation, analysis reports, trade studies, requirements, and verification plans.

Ability to translate system-level requirements into measurable optical performance requirements and verification methods.

Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to explain complex optical concepts to engineers from other disciplines.

Demonstrated ability to independently own complex technical problems while working effectively within a multidisciplinary engineering team.

Preferred Qualifications

Ph.D. in Optical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related discipline.

Direct experience developing spaceflight optical systems or optical payloads.

Experience with one or more of the following:

Space-based optical systems

Directed energy systems

Power beaming systems

Beam directors

Laser communication terminals

High-energy laser systems

Telescopes

Precision pointing optical payloads

Free-space optical systems

Experience with STOP analysis, thermo-optical modeling, or coupled thermal/structural-optical analysis.

Experience using FEA or thermal analysis results to predict optical performance and alignment stability.

Experience with stray light, scattering, ghost analysis, baffle design, or optical contamination control.

Experience with reflective optical systems and large-aperture optics.

Experience with fast steering mirrors, deformable optics, active alignment, precision beam steering, or beam control.

Experience developing optical systems through design, fabrication, alignment, integration, environmental testing, qualification, and delivery.

Experience with thermal-vacuum, vibration, shock, contamination, and other environmental qualification testing.

Experience working with flight hardware and space qualification requirements.

Experience working directly with optical fabricators, precision manufacturers, coating vendors, and specialty aerospace suppliers.

Familiarity with spacecraft systems engineering, requirements management, configuration management, and verification processes.

Experience in a fast-paced startup or NewSpace environment where requirements, designs, and engineering processes evolve rapidly.

Personal Attributes

Strong technical judgment with the ability to identify the first-order drivers of optical performance and focus engineering effort where it matters most.

Practical engineering mindset focused on designs that can actually be fabricated, aligned, integrated, tested, qualified, and operated.

High technical ownership of optical models, analyses, requirements, documentation, and engineering recommendations.

Clear communicator who can explain complex optical issues to mechanical, systems, controls, thermal, manufacturing, and program teams.

Collaborative and multidisciplinary, with the ability to advocate for optical performance while balancing system-level requirements, cost, schedule, manufacturability, and reliability.

Comfortable operating with ambiguity and developing practical engineering solutions in a rapidly evolving environment.

Mentorship-oriented, with a desire to raise the technical capabilities of the broader engineering organization.

Full range of competitive benefits including 100% employer paid health insurance (medical, dental, vision), retirement plan, and unlimited PTO