Sr Principal Optical Systems Engineer - Beaverton, OR, United States
Originally posted 1 October 2026 by the employer.
About the role
This senior individual-contributor role leads the architecture, design, modeling, integration, characterization, and validation of advanced optical microsystems and photonic test solutions.
What you'll do
- Lead development of advanced optical systems, micro-optical components, and photonic test solutions from concept through commercial deployment.
- Translate customer, product, and application requirements into system architectures, performance specifications, interfaces, and verification plans.
- Own system-level optical performance and manufacturability, reliability, cost, schedule, and scalability of optical subsystems.
- Drive technical decisions for complex programs with significant ambiguity, multidisciplinary dependencies, and business impact.
- Select and characterize subsystem optical components including fiber array units (FAUs) and optical connectors.
- Develop and validate advanced optical models using wave optics, diffraction, beam propagation, and photonic-device simulation methods.
What you'll need
- Degree or PhD in Optical Engineering, Physics, Photonics, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- Relevant industry experience in optical-system development, photonics, semiconductor equipment, or test and measurement.
- Deep expertise in wave optics, optical-system analysis, and photonic devices.
- Strong experience with optical modeling, simulation, tolerance analysis, and experimental correlation.
- Hands-on experience developing and validating optical test and measurement methodologies.
- Proven ability to independently solve complex, multidisciplinary problems and make sound technical decisions with incomplete information.
Nice to have
- Experience with silicon photonics, photonic integrated circuits, or wafer-level optical testing.
- Demonstrated experience in optical design and analysis using ANSYS Zemax.
- Knowledge of advanced microfabrication, additive manufacturing, cleanroom, or semiconductor process technologies.
- Experience with precision optical alignment, opto-mechanical systems, packaging, and system integration.
- Programming and automation experience using Python, MATLAB, LabVIEW, or similar tools.
- Familiarity with machine vision, image processing, automated inspection, statistical process control, or design of experiments.
This role has been open 0 days — well below the 48-day median for Hardware Systems Engineering roles.
Hardware Systems Engineering · AI ML Hardware
|
Open roles in category
890
|
Median days open
48 d
|
Median salary
$159k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | FormFactor | All employers we track in this specialty (890 roles · 102 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 6 | 890 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 9 | 5930 · 145 employers |
| Median days open | 58 d | 48 d (+10 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $159k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Intel Corporation · 63 open roles · median 24 d
- KLA Corporation · 54 open roles · median 32 d
- NVIDIA · 54 open roles · median 56 d
- Teradyne · 48 open roles · median 14 d
- Applied Materials · 43 open roles · median 59 d
- AMD · 40 open roles · median 54 d
How we counted: 890 open Hardware Systems Engineering (AI ML Hardware) roles from 102 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 2 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 Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.