Optical Engineer

Описание вакансии

About IonQ:

IonQ, Inc. [NYSE: IONQ] is the world’s leading quantum company delivering solutions to solve the world’s most complex problems. IonQ’s newest generation quantum computers, IonQ Tempo and IonQ Forte Enterprise, are the latest in cutting-edge systems that have been helping customers and partners such as Amazon Web Services, AstraZeneca, and NVIDIA achieve 20x performance results. The company achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, setting a world record in quantum computing performance in 2025.

The company is accelerating its technology roadmap and intends to deliver the world’s most powerful quantum computers with 2 million qubits by 2030 to accelerate innovation in drug discovery, materials science, financial modeling, logistics, cybersecurity, and defense. IonQ’s advancements in quantum networking position the company as a leader in building the quantum internet.

About Skyloom 

Skyloom, an IonQ company, is a telecommunications company founded with the mission to develop, deploy, and operate one of the fundamental pieces of tomorrow's space communication infrastructure to provide data transport services on a planetary scale. If you have a strong sense of purpose, focus, urgency, and willingness to compete, or if working on space lasers excites you, join our team to develop the future generation of space communication technology.

Skyloom is building the orbital infrastructure for the next renaissance in global connectivity. As Earth’s first space-based telecommunications company, we deliver fiberless, planetary-scale data transport that dramatically increases bandwidth, availability, and resiliency—while reducing latency and total cost of operations.

Our proprietary optical technology enables secure, ultra-high-capacity connections across our end-to-end, multi-orbit network or within your own infrastructure, unlocking a new standard for global communications.

Location:This role will be onsite in our Broomfield, Colorado office.  Travel:Up to 5% Job ID: 1447 The Role

The Optical Designer and Analyst will be responsible for designing, analyzing, and optimizing optical systems for space-based communication technologies. This role requires hands-on experience with optical design software, a strong background in optics, and the ability to collaborate across disciplines to deliver optical designs that are both innovative and capable of cost-effective mass production.

Responsibilities

• Lead the full lifecycle of optical systems, including conceptualization, simulation, detailed design, and prototyping. Focus areas include free-space optical communication systems and high-speed laser applications.
• Conduct in-depth analysis using optical design software to optimize system performance, focusing on aspects such as manufacturing and alignment tolerances, wavefront error, radiometric analysis, free-space far-field propagation and fiber coupling efficiency.
• Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, software and control engineering teams to ensure seamless integration of optical subsystems into spacecraft or ground-based platforms.
• Develop and implement optomechanical design and analysis strategies to validate design requirements, including Structural-Thermal-Optical Performance analysis to ensure robustness for space environments.
• Write and maintain technical documentation on designs, analyses, and test procedures. Mentor and transfer knowledge to other team members and cross-functional peers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Optics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field.
• Proven experience in optical system design, particularly for space-based or high-precision optical instruments.
• Extensive experience with optical design software (e.g., ZEMAX) and mechanical design tools (e.g., SolidWorks, Siemens NX).
• To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Skyloom employees must be a U.S. citizen, lawful U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or the U.S. Department of Commerce, as applicable. Learn more about ITAR here.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with optical design in the context of space-flight systems or astronomy is highly desirable.
• Experience working in a cleanroom environment (ISO 5 to ISO 8).
• Spanish speaking is a plus.

Compensation 

The approximate base salary range for this position is $115,000 - $130,000. The total compensation package includes base, bonus, equity, and a range of benefit options found on our career site.  

Compensation will vary based on individual factors such as education, qualifications, and experience of the final candidate(s), specific office location, and calibration against relevant market data and internal team equity.  Posted base salary figures are subject to change as new market data becomes available. Our benefits include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans, matching 401K, unlimited PTO and paid holidays, parental/adoption leave, legal insurance, and a home technology stipend.  Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided when a candidate receives an offer of employment.

IonQ's HQ is located in College Park, Maryland, just outside of Washington DC. We are actively building out our recently opened manufacturing and production facility in Bothell, WA (near Seattle). Depending on the position, you may be required to be near one of our offices in College Park, Seattle, Toronto, Canada, and Basel, Switzerland. However, IonQ will expand into additional domestic and international geographies, so don’t let this stop you from applying!

At IonQ, we believe in fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all while striving to identify and eliminate barriers. We empower employees to thrive by fostering a culture of autonomy, productivity, and respect. We are dedicated to creating an environment where individuals can feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued.

We are committed to equity and justice. We welcome different voices and viewpoints and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ancestry, physical and/or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.

US Technical Jobs.The position you are applying for will require access to technology that is subject to U.S. export control and government contract restrictions.  Employment with IonQ is contingent on either verifying “U.S. Person” (e.g., U.S. citizen, U.S. national, U.S. permanent resident, or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum) status for export controls and government contracts work, obtaining any necessary license, and/or confirming the availability of a license exception under U.S. export controls.  Please note that in the absence of confirming you are a U.S. Person for export control and government contracts work purposes, IonQ may choose not to apply for a license or decline to use a license exception (if available) for you to access export-controlled technology that may require authorization, and similarly, you may not qualify for government contracts work that requires U.S. Persons, and IonQ may decline to proceed with your application on those bases alone.  Accordingly, we will have some additional questions regarding your immigration status that will be used for export control and compliance purposes, and the answers will be reviewed by compliance personnel to ensure compliance with federal law.

US Non-Technical Jobs.Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum. Accordingly, we will have some additional questions regarding your immigration status that will be used for export control and compliance purposes, and the answers will be reviewed by compliance personnel to ensure compliance with federal law.

If you are interested in being a part of our team and mission, we encourage you to apply!