Principal Optical Design Engineer - Irvine, CA, United States
$175,000 - $195,000 USD yearly
Originally posted 9 June 2026 by the employer.
About the role
As a Principal Optical Design Engineer within the Central Engineering organization in Irvine, CA, you will serve as a technical authority in the design and development of high-precision optical systems. The role focuses on developing optics, optical assemblies, subsystems, and laser-based production systems from concept through verification.
What you'll do
- Lead the design and development of high-precision optics and optical systems, including complex multi-element assemblies such as scan lenses and objectives. - Translate system-level requirements into optical architectures, designs, and specifications. - Perform optical modeling, tolerancing, sensitivity analysis, error budgeting, and trade studies to meet performance targets. - Partner with optical systems, mechanical, electrical, laser, and manufacturing engineering teams to integrate optical designs into complete systems. - Drive designs through fabrication, precision assembly, alignment, metrology, integration, and performance verification. - Collaborate with suppliers and manufacturing teams to ensure optical designs are manufacturable and scalable.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's degree in Optical Engineering, Optics, Physics, or a related technical discipline. - 8+ years of relevant industry experience designing and developing high-precision optical systems, with technical leadership at a senior/principal level. - Proven experience independently designing and optimizing complex optical systems. - Advanced proficiency with Zemax OpticStudio and/or CODE V. - Strong experience with optical tolerancing, sensitivity analysis, and error budgeting. - Practical experience taking optical designs through fabrication, assembly, alignment, integration, and verification. - Understanding of optical fabrication, metrology, and design for manufacturability.
Nice to have
- Advanced degree in Optical Engineering, Optics, Physics, or a related technical discipline. - Experience with lasers and laser-based optical systems.
Skills: optical architectures, optical design, Zemax, CODE V, optical assembly, laser measurements
This role has been open 135 days — well above the 39-day median for Semiconductor Equipment Engineering roles.
Semiconductor Equipment Engineering · Optical Laser Systems
|
Open roles in category
41
|
Median days open
39 d
|
Median salary
$158k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | MKS Instruments | All employers we track in this specialty (41 roles · 11 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 4 | 41 |
| Open roles in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family | 72 | 10080 · 106 employers |
| Median days open | 67 d | 39 d (+28 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $158k |
Skills observed across this category: optical architectures, optical design, Zemax, CODE V, optical assembly, laser measurements
Who's hiring in this category
- KLA Corporation · 15 open roles · median 107 d
- ASML · 7 open roles · median 19 d
- Applied Materials · 5 open roles · median 35 d
- MKS Instruments (this employer) · 4 open roles · median 67 d
- Teradyne · 3 open roles · median 1 d
- Coherent Corp · 2 open roles · median 48 d
How we counted: 41 open Semiconductor Equipment Engineering (Optical Laser Systems) roles from 11 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 24 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family row. Figures refresh nightly.