Sr. Optical Engineer
$120,000 - $170,000 USD yearly
Originally posted 3 November 2026 by the employer.
About the role
As a Sr. Optical Engineer at Spectra-Physics, the Lasers Business Unit of MKS Instruments, you will contribute to platform extensions and optical design improvements for free-space and fiber-based laser systems. You will report to the Senior Engineering Manager, R&D, and partner with multidisciplinary internal teams.
What you'll do
- Design and engineer laser modules and systems for performance, cost, and reliability.
- Define experimentation and modeling strategies, build, test, and troubleshoot laser systems, and transfer designs to production.
- Create technical reports and comprehensive design documentation.
- Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, software, and manufacturing engineers to evaluate performance and reliability.
- Support systematic problem-solving and up to 10% travel as needed.
What you'll need
- Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree with 5 years of industry experience, or a Master's degree with 2 years of industry experience.
- Experience designing and building optical systems.
- Hands-on experience with free-space beam alignment of laser oscillators or amplifiers.
- Demonstrated ability to set up and perform optical measurements, evaluate results, and communicate conclusions.
Nice to have
- Experience in industrial optical product development.
- Background in troubleshooting and failure analysis of optical modules and systems.
- Hands-on experience with ultra-fast lasers and techniques.
- Experience with Gaussian beam propagation and ray-tracing software.
- Knowledge of harmonic generation and nonlinear crystals.
More semiconductor jobs: MKS Instruments jobs · Hardware design jobs · California jobs
This role has been open 0 days — well below the 47-day median for Hardware Systems Engineering roles.
Hardware Systems Engineering · AI ML Hardware
|
Open roles in category
1072
|
Median days open
47 d
|
Category median salary (all employers)
$148k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | MKS Instruments | All employers we track in this specialty (1072 roles · 100 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 7 | 1072 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 18 | 6352 · 145 employers |
| Median days open | 69 d | 47 d (+22 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $148k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Intel Corporation · 83 open roles · median 40 d
- KLA Corporation · 61 open roles · median 57 d
- Teradyne · 58 open roles · median 46 d
- NVIDIA · 55 open roles · median 69 d
- Applied Materials · 53 open roles · median 60 d
- ASML · 50 open roles · median 28 d
How we counted: 1072 open Hardware Systems Engineering (AI ML Hardware) roles from 100 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 3 Nov 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 Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.