Job Information
The MITRE Corporation Optical Engineer in McLean, Virginia
Why choose between doing meaningful work and having a fulfilling life? At MITRE, you can have both. That's because MITRE people are committed to tackling our nation's toughest challenges—and we're committed to the long-term well-being of our employees. MITRE is different from most technology companies. We are a not-for-profit corporation chartered to work for the public interest, with no commercial conflicts to influence what we do. The R&D centers we operate for the government create lasting impact in fields as diverse as cybersecurity, healthcare, aviation, defense, and enterprise transformation. We're making a difference every day—working for a safer, healthier, and more secure nation and world. Our workplace reflects our values. We offer competitive benefits, exceptional professional development opportunities, and a culture of innovation that embraces diversity, inclusion, flexibility, collaboration, and career growth. If this sounds like the choice you want to make, then choose MITRE—and make a difference with us.
Department Summary:
MITRE Lab’s Quantum Information Sciences, Optics, and Imaging Department serves as a vanguard for MITRE to meet the future needs of our customers, requiring technical excellence while encouraging creativity and fostering interests in current and emerging technologies across its diverse employees. Your future colleagues are a collegial team from diverse technical backgrounds who work across MITRE’s sponsors and partners.
Roles & Responsibilities:
The MITRE Corporation is seeking a smart, energetic engineer or scientist with experience in optical physics and lasers to work in a dynamic environment, which encourages creativity and requires keeping pace with current and emerging technologies and practices. The work will include the design and evaluation of optical systems including directed energy applications. There may be additional opportunities to develop photonics systems, and other fields of optical engineering such as communications, and imaging.
The candidate will work in the public interest to provide technical expertise in solving our sponsors’ critical optics problems.
The candidate will contribute to analysis of various optical systems, including integration challenges and use these analyses to provide recommendations to our sponsors.
The candidate will use analytic techniques to assess the impact of lasers and optics on operational capabilities and missions.
The candidate will develop and evaluate directed energy systems for a wide range of missions and applications.
As needed and desired, the candidate will contribute to other optics tasks (imaging, communications, etc)
The candidate will develop optical models for simulation, and/or hardware for lab research.
Basic Qualifications:
Applicants selected for this position will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information or applicants who are eligible for security clearances.
Requires a minimum of 2 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or an advanced degree with relevant experience.
Training and understanding of optical physics, modeling & simulation, and/or laser systems & metrology.
Familiarity with laboratory work on optical systems, such as research, development, and testing.
Strong technical writing and oral presentation skills.
The ability to conduct research and analysis in a collaborative environment.
The ability to think critically and be proactive in pursuing research and problem-solving with minimal supervision.
Secret security clearance.
The ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance with additional accesses.
This position requires a minimum of 50% hybrid on-site
Preferred Qualifications:
Masters or PhD in Optical Science, Physics, or Electrical Engineering.
Experience in the design and evaluation of directed energy systems; light-matter interactions.
Experience with imaging, sensing, and computer vision systems.
Experience in the design and evaluation of cross-cutting imaging technologies for defense, intelligence, transportation, or health.
Top Secret security clearance.
This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s):
Secret
This requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s):
Top Secret
Work Location Type:
Hybrid
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