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Senior Principal Optical Engineer

Coherent Corp.
Santa Clara, United Statesfull_timeVerifiedPosted 14 Apr 2026

About the role

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

  • Conduct all activities in a manner consistent with Coherent’ s corporate values and Code of Conduct.
  • Provide professional technical support to internal departments, sales and marketing teams worldwide, and customers as needed.
  • Introduce and help develop efficient and improved methods for optical system assembly and inspection as needed.
  • Involved directly with new product development projects incorporating optical, electrical, mechanical, software and system integration engineering functions.
  • Ensure meeting project schedule and timelines and milestones, and the completion of complex cross-disciplinary activities within project team.
  • Conduct and well manage design documents, ECR/ECO, design change implementation in new product release process.
  • Communicates project status and progresses to management as appropriate, including recommendations on resources, process development, and product improvement and management.
  • Individual contributor on the project team in addition to project management responsibilities.
  • Keep abreast of customer needs and new competitive products, assessing the related impact on company projects/products development plans.
  • Identify, select, and implement new development, component, manufacturing and/or testing technologies.
  • Maintain technical relationships with key suppliers, as needed.

Education & Experience

  • MS or Ph. D in Optics, Optical Engineering, Opto-mechanical instrumentation.   Advanced education qualifications would be a plus.  Candidates with suitable hands-on experience with a BS degree will be considered in exceptional circumstances.
  • 10+ years’ experience in design, simulation, testing, and inspection of fiber optics, optical imaging systems, laser, illumination or other optical systems.
  • A minimum of 5 years’ experience in optical design and simulations for fiber optics, Si-Photonics, laser, life science, LiDAR, machine vision and other related industries.
  • Experienced in working with customers and engineering team to effectively and successfully bring optical products through product life cycle from prototyping to volume production.

Skills

 

  • Strong foundation in Si-Photonics, optics, physics, fiber optics, optical networks system.
  • Proficient in using optical design tools – e.g. OptiStudio, Code-V etc. to do Optical system design, simulations, optimization, tolerance analysis.
  • Hands-on experiences in optical design for industries within semiconductors, fiber optics, machine vision, and laser. Experience of Co-package optical design and architecture is preferable.
  • Knowledgeable and experienced with precision mechanical components and manufacturing, materials for fiber optical modules and assemblies.
  • Able to utilize various equipment and to develop test plans for optical devices and optical components, assemblies and systems for engineering and production.
  • Demonstrate ability to DfX, DfM and to solve complex issues in optical design and opto-mechanical product development.
  • Preferred experience of working in a fast paced optical or Si-photonics manufacturing environment, especially dealing with multiple projects of optical and opto-mechanical assemblies.
  • Be flexible and work efficiently in a multi-site, cross-organizational, cross-cultural, global team environment
  • Leadership and the ability to work highly independently with minimal guidance from supervisors on specific tasks
  • The ability to work and deliver on aggressive schedules.
  • Ability to communicate in Mandarin Chinese is preferable.
  • Preferred U.S. Citizen or Permanent Residence due to possible sensitive IP discussion with U.S. customers.

 

  • Able to develop long-term plans, programs and goals, to evaluate work accomplishments and provide effective feedback.
  • Able to learn, share, work with, and interpret software and test equipment based on requirements.
  • Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of evaluation methods through product development.
  • Good independent planning skills to successfully complete multiple and cross-functional projects.
  • Creative, analytical and structured problem-solving capabilities.
  • Excellent communication, interpersonal and presentation skills.
  • Capability to teamwork and collaborate among different functions.
  • Capable in technical communication and being able to express effectively to manufacturing personnel.
  • Ability to work in cross-organization, cross-culture, and global team environment.
  • Ability to travel domestically and internationally.

Working Cond

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Company

Coherent Corp.

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