Red Leader is building the world's first software-defined HD lidar. They're creating a new sensing modality that breaks through industry-wide barriers resulting in 100x better point density while being scalable for manufacturing and tunable in software. Their fundamentally new architecture comes from their extensive backgrounds in optical communications, advanced digital signal processing, and cutting-edge computing.

They are seeking an Optical Design Engineer to work on bringing hardware design to life from initial design to testing and validation. Because of their state-of-the-art approach to bringing compute to lidar, you will have the unique opportunity to define the design paradigms for optical systems for automotive sensing. The ideal candidate is passionate about building production-ready systems and has deep experience in optical designs and system architecting. To excel in this role, you should be comfortable carrying out hardware design cycles with a high degree of autonomy and process.

They offer health insurance (medical, dental, vision), 401(k) w/ employer matching and generous (but intentionally not unlimited!) PTO.

They provide also free breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks and organize company social events & retreats

What you'll be doing at Red Leader Tech:

• Participate in system and sub-system level design trades and develop requirements

• Create and manage master link budget and dynamic range budget

• Root-cause and resolve hardware issues as they appear and incorporate learnings into new designs

• Select vendors and components

• Conduct experiments, analyze data, interpret results, test and evaluate theoretical designs

• Identify, formulate and produce effective solutions to emerging problems

• Engage in lifelong learning and develop new theories or methods

• Evaluate the final product’s overall performance, reliability and safety

Things that make you a good fit:

• 2+ years experience in an optics, hardware engineering or closely related role

• BS or MS in Optical Engineering, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or related field

• Demonstrated expertise with link budgets, SNR, photon counts

• Demonstrated ability to design and develop a significantly sized optical product

• Prior non-imaging optics work experience

• Experience with optomechanical systems including pointing and beam steering

• Significant practical experience with optical analysis software (Zemax, Synopsys, etc)

• To be eligible to apply for this position through Startuplifers you must be currently studying towards a degree or have graduated from a Finnish or a Swedish university

Startuplifers is a not-for-profit organization connecting the top Nordic talent with San Francisco Bay Area startups. We guarantee a free flight ticket, a hassle-free visa process, and a supportive community, making your transition to San Francisco seamless and fun. Together we will secure the job of your dreams.