Optical Engineer - Lens Designer
Boulder, COJob$150–175K/yrPosted 4 days agoStill listed 3 days ago
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At a glance
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Job overview
Atom Computing seeks an Optical Engineer specializing in Lens Design to create custom optical systems for quantum computers. The engineer will manage the design lifecycle from concept and ray tracing through tolerancing and fabrication, and work with vendors to bring custom lenses to production. The role focuses on laser delivery, imaging, optical analysis, and manufacturable precision optics.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Qualifications
Full job description
At Atom Computing, we build quantum computers using arrays of optically trapped neutral atoms that will empower customers to achieve unprecedented computational breakthroughs. Join a world-class team of scientists, engineers, and business professionals to advance the state-of-the-art in quantum computing.
Atom Computing is seeking an Optical Engineer specializing in Lens Design to create custom, high-performance optical systems from the ground up. In this role, you will own the complete optical design lifecycle—from initial concept and ray-tracing to tolerancing, finalizing optical prescriptions, and working directly with fabrication vendors to bring custom lenses for our quantum computer to life.
Job Responsibilities
• Design, build, and test lens assemblies and systems for fiber collimation, laser delivery, imaging systems.
• Research and develop novel lens and mirror systems for laser delivery and imaging systems.
• Perform analysis on aberration correction, athermalization, and chromatic performance to balance competing system requirements
• Evaluate suitability of design solutions by performing detailed tolerance and stray light analysis
• Develop alignment procedures for optical designs
• Generate rigorous optical fabrication drawings and specifications (e.g., ISO 10110 standards) for custom lens components and assemblies.
• Collaborate directly with custom optics foundries and coating vendors to ensure manufacturability (DFM) and oversee the procurement of custom optical elements.
Experience & Education
• Bachelor’s degree in Optical Sciences or Optical Engineering, advanced degree a plus
• 5+ years optical design experience
• 2+ years of hands-on optics assembly experience in a laboratory environment
Qualifications
• Experience with Fourier Optics, flat field relay optical systems, and telecentric imaging
• Experience in the design of high-numerical-aperture imaging systems
• Experience with Zemax, FRED, or equivalent ray-tracing software
• Expertise in Design for Manufacturing (DFM) for precision optics
• Fluency in optical drawing standards (ISO 10110).
• Experience with lens tolerancing in ray-tracing software
• Experience with STOP analysis
• Experience with stray light analysis
• Experience with Onshape, Solidworks, or equivalent 3D CAD design software
• High attention-to-detail and accuracy
• Creative, critical thinking with ability to strategize and solve problems in a dynamic environment
• Ability to work effectively in an open, collaborative environment
• Excellent communication, listening and people skills
How this job compares
Set against the 434 open Optical Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 10, 2026.
- Pay
- This posting$150–175K/yr
- Colorado median$131–180K/yr60 salary ranges
- US median$115–201K/yr384 salary ranges
This range's midpoint, $163K, is close to the Colorado median midpoint ($163K) — in the middle half of Optical Engineer salary ranges in Colorado.
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 60 open Optical Engineer jobs in Colorado and 434 across the US. Under 1% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Hiring the most in Colorado
- Quantinuum19 open
- Atom Computing (this employer)9 open
- BAE Systems7 open
- Experience
- This posting asks for at least 5 years of experience; Optical Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for 5 years at the median (377 postings).
- Education
- 264 of the 434 open Optical Engineer jobs (61%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.
Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 10, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.
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