Principal Optics Engineer

Thales Defense & Security, Inc. (TDSI) Headquartered in Clarksburg, MD, is a U.S. company that has been serving domestic and international defense Air, Land and Sea domains for 60+ years. With over 1,000 employees, TDSI and its four subsidiaries (Advanced Acoustic Concepts, Digital Receiver Technology, Tampa Microwave, and Trusted Cyber Technologies), supports U.S. Joint Services, special operations forces and multi-national partners with a variety of communication, visualization, signal intelligence/electronic warfare, and sensor/sonar capabilities. TDSI’s key technologies include tactical handheld radios, expeditionary satellite terminals, helmet-mounted displays, optics and target recognition capability, advanced radars, undersea sensing and missile systems. Lives depend on what we do!

Top Benefits (Subject to terms of applicable policies/plans)

• Competitive Salary
• Yearly Incentive Compensation Plan
• Medical insurance for self and eligible family members
• Generous 401(k) program- up to 7% company contribution and 100% immediate vesting
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Paid wellness, vacation, and holiday leave
• Paid maternity, paternity, and parental leave
• 9/80 Work Schedule (every other Friday off)
• Hybrid working environment

We are excited to announce that we have an opening in our Billerica, MA office for a Principal Optics Engineer. 

Responsibilities

• Understand the Augmented Reality HMD marketspace, its requirements and customer needs
• Develop / maintain a vast network of contacts at vendors, customers, and industry working groups
• Attend and participate as subject matter expert in relevant conferences and symposia
• Understand the physics and math of optics and displays
• Develop product/development requirements – what is possible, what is manufacturable, how to bend physics to our will, and how much of that can we do now?
• Propose R&D efforts, how to productize the resulting technologies, and the intervening set of tasks
• Provide technical support and expertise on proposals, bid efforts and customer interactions
• Interact with and impress customers, and vendor counterparts at very technical level
• Manage vendors to a successful conclusion, including providing milestones for evaluating next direction, and cutting bait if such evaluation finds no promising direction
• Design and develop optical components of head mounted displays (waveguide, projector, intervening optics)- potentially identifying COTS while overseeing adaption effort
• Test performance of optical components (especially waveguides) in the lab
• Analyze performance of optical components: provide and defend first order (oversimplified) calculations with stated assumptions to recommend whether a technical approach is worth further investigation (for instance in the lab)
• Debug problems with our current displays
• Operate without close supervision, which probably means turning an open-ended problem into a course of action and then following it to an actionable conclusion
• This means both avoiding rabbit holes and politely avoiding accepting too many assignments or assignments with insufficient time, money, or probability of success
• Perform as an integral member of the HMD team interacting on a regular basis with inter/intra-company disciplines including engineering, contracts, programs management, business development, and manufacturing
  Some domestic and international travel to vendors, customers, and conferences
• By example, set the standards that embody the TDSI Core Value and Thales Leadership Model

Qualifications

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

• U.S. Citizenship required. - Applicants selected may be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.

• Bachelor’s in engineering or equivalent technology field, master’s or PhD preferred
• 8+ years’ experience in hands on engineering role; with at least 6 dedicated to Optics
• Experience with motion tracking integration into augmented reality devices (expertise preferred)
• Excellent organizational skills and work ethic
• Knowledge of software development lifecycle
• Effective oral and written communication skills and the ability to manage multiple projects

The annualized pay range for this role is $146,151-$186,748 USD along with a target incentive compensation plan (ICP) of 5%. The pay range provided is a good faith estimate representative of the experience level for the role described above.  TDSI considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role, function and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, location, education/training, and key skills.

For specific questions about this job posting, candidates may contact talent acquisition at careers@thalesdsi.com.

Thales Defense & Security, Inc. is committed to non-discrimination as applicable under federal, state and local laws. We are an E-Verify Employer.

If you need an accommodation or assistance in order to apply for a position with Thales Defense & Security, Inc., please call Human Resources at 202-961-1016.

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