Lead Engineer- Optical Coating Design

If you’re looking for a special place to build or grow your career, you’ve found it. Whether you’re an experienced professional, a recent college graduate or somewhere in between, IDEX is a place where you can apply your existing skills and learn new ones in an environment where you can make an impact. With interesting opportunities in engineering, marketing, sales, supply chain, operations, HR, finance, and more across more than 40 diverse businesses around the globe, chances are, we have something special for you. JOB TITLE: Lead Engineer – Optical Coating Design REPORTING TO: Director, Filter Design and Coating Technology LOCATION: Center of Excellence, West Henrietta, NY (Onsite/hybrid remote possible) ITAR/EAR CRITERIA: Certain positions with IDEX Corporation and its business units require access to controlled goods and technologies subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations or the Export Administration Regulations. Applicants for these positions may need to be "U.S. Persons," as defined in these regulations. Generally, a "U.S. Person" is a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident, or an individual who has been granted refugee or asylum status. SCOPE OF ROLE: The Optical Filters Group is seeking a highly motivated engineer to join our industry-leading team of optical coating designers. This role will support Semrock's mission as the Optical Coatings Design Center of Excellence and will work closely with Advanced Thin Films (ATF) and other IDEX businesses to develop innovative optical coating solutions and expand optical coating technology capabilities across the enterprise. The successful candidate will apply advanced modeling, optimization, and engineering principles to create sophisticated, manufacturable, and cost-effective optical filter designs while contributing to technology development across multiple business units and manufacturing locations. Our filter coatings are highly sophisticated, often consisting of hundreds of individual layers. Success in this role requires both strong technical and analytical skills and the ability to develop practical, manufacturable solutions. While prior thin-film design experience is highly desirable, candidates with demonstrated excellence in applying scientific and engineering principles to complex physical systems and a proven ability to learn quickly are encouraged to apply. This position will collaborate closely with engineering, manufacturing, applications, and technology teams across businesses. The role requires up to 20% travel, primarily to Colorado and other facilities as needed. ESSENTIAL DUTIES: The fundamental responsibility of this engineering position is the development of sophisticated, manufacturable optical filter designs through advanced modeling and optimization techniques. Key measures of success: • Delivery of designs that meet customer performance requirements. • Rapid and responsive support of product development activities. • Manufacturing yield, reproducibility, and robustness of released designs. • Cost-effective designs optimized for performance and manufacturability. • Advancement of enterprise-wide optical coating design capabilities. • Contributions to innovation, technical excellence, and intellectual property development. RESPONSIBILITIES: • Design and optimize advanced optical coatings for customer and product development programs. • Work closely with Applications Engineers and Application Scientists to support customer engagements, specification development, feasibility assessments, and design estimates. • Communicate complex technical concepts and tradeoffs to team members, business stakeholders, and occasionally customers with varying levels of technical expertise. • Serve as a key technical link between product design teams and coating manufacturing operations. • Partner with engineering and manufacturing teams across businesses to deploy best practices in optical filter design, coating processes, monitoring methodologies, and metrology techniques. • Develop designs that consider both customer requirements and manufacturing capabilities to maximize yield, reproducibility, and cost effectiveness. • Contribute to the development and execution of optical coating technology roadmaps. • Develop, document, and continuously improve design methodologies, modeling approaches, and standard work. • Support the introduction of new products, technologies, and design methods into manufacturing. • Collaborate with specialists in software, modeling, process engineering, metrology, and manufacturing to enhance design capabilities and process performance. • Analyze manufacturing and metrology data to improve design robustness and long-term product performance. • Generate innovative technical solutions and contribute to the company's intellectual property portfolio through invention disclosures, patents, and proprietary design methodologies. • Interact regularly with manufacturing personnel, engineers, scientists, and business leaders to solve technical challenges and improve organizational capabilities. POSITION LEVELING Senior Engineer: Delivers excellent designs • Independently develops, optimizes, and releases manufacturable optical filter designs. • Manages multiple customer and internal product development projects simultaneously. • Applies established design methodologies to solve complex technical challenges. • Works effectively with Applications, Manufacturing, Quality, and Engineering teams to achieve project objectives. • Contributes to continuous improvement of design methods, workflows, and manufacturing performance. • Develops expertise in thin-film design, coating technology, and manufacturing processes. Lead Engineer: Improves how teams design • Serves as technical leader for complex filter design programs and strategic customer opportunities. • Develops innovative design approaches to solve difficult performance, manufacturability, or cost challenges. • Drives adoption of best practices, methodologies, and design standards across multiple products and locations. • Mentors engineers and scientists in thin-film design, optimization, and manufacturability. • Contributes to technology roadmaps and future capability planning. • Influences technical decisions across multiple functions, including Applications, R&D, Manufacturing, and Operations. • Recognized internally as a subject matter expert in one or more critical technical areas. • Effectively leads through influence rather than organizational authority. EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: The following qualifications are highly desired for success in this position: • Senior Engineer: Typically 5-10 years of relevant experience. • Lead Engineer: Typically 10-15 years of relevant experience with demonstrated technical leadership. • Relevant disciplines include: Optics, Optical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, Materials Science, Chemistry, Electrical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or other closely related scientific or engineering disciplines. • Experience with optical filters, optics, and thin-film coating design preferred; the ability to quickly learn the underlying principles is required. • Demonstrated excellence in modeling, optimization, and analysis of complex physical systems. • Ability and desire to create manufacturable, cost-effective designs that meet customer requirements. • Ability to manage multiple projects and competing priorities in a dynamic environment. • Experience applying structured problem-solving methodologies to new and complex technical challenges. • Proven ability to deliver high-quality results within schedule and budget constraints. • Strong interpersonal, communication, and collaboration skills. • Demonstrated ability to influence and drive alignment across multidisciplinary teams. • High standards of integrity, accountability, and professional conduct. • Strong motivation to learn, innovate, and contribute in a fast-paced technical environment. OTHER SKILLS and ABILITIES: The following qualifications are desirable, and successful candidates will possess experience in several of these areas: • Optical engineering and optical system design. • Thin-film optical coatings and their application within optical systems. • Optical component characterization and laboratory-based optical testing. • Opto-mechanics and opto-electronic systems. • Moderate- to high-power laser applications, laser systems, and laser safety. • Fluorescence microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and related optical instrumentation. • Commercial product development within engineering and manufacturing environments. • Process control, optical monitoring, metrology, spectrometry, and manufacturing process optimization. • Customer-facing technical support, requirements gathering, specification development, and technical negotiations. • Experience working across multiple sites, organizations, or functions to achieve technical objectives. • Familiarity with engineering and scientific software tools such as OptiLayer, Essential Macleod, TFCalc, Zemax, Code V, SolidWorks, Python, LabVIEW, ImageJ, or equivalent tools. • Experience developing intellectual property, including invention disclosures, patents, trade secrets, or proprietary technical methods. Why Join Us? This is a unique opportunity to help shape the future of optical coating technology across IDEX. As part of the Optical Coating Design Center of Excellence, you will work alongside industry-leading experts, influence technology development across multiple businesses, and help establish the next generation of optical coating capabilities and products. Are you ready to join a different kind of company where our people, our culture, and our commitments are centered around providing trusted solutions that improve lives around the world? Total Rewards The compensation range for this position is $112,700.00 - $169,100.00, depending on experience. This position may be eligible for performance based bonus plan. Benefits Package Our comprehensive U.S. benefit offerings include: Health benefits, 401(k) retirement savings program with company match, PTO, and more. More information on our benefits and rewards can be found on our career page: IDEX is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IDEX gives consideration for employment to qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, creed, genetic information, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other consideration or protected category made unlawful by federal, state or local laws. Attention Applicants: If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process, please let us know. Likewise, if you are limited in the ability to access or use this online application process and need an alternative method for applying, we will determine an alternate way for you to apply. Please contact our Talent Acquisition Team at View email address on click.appcast.io for assistance with an accommodation. These contact tools may be used only by individuals with a disability for accommodation requests. Do not inquire as to the status of an application. This posting is for an existing vacancy. ‌ Artificial intelligence is not used to screen, assess or select applicants. ‌ IDEX (NYSE: IEX) is a company that has undoubtedly touched your life in some way. In fact, IDEX businesses make thousands of products that are mission-critical components in everyday activities. Chances are the car you’re driving has a BAND-IT® clamp holding your side airbag safely in place. If you were ever in a car accident, a Hurst Jaws of Life® rescue tool may have saved your life. If you or a family member is battling cancer, your doctor may have tested your DNA in a quest to find the best targeted medicine for you. It’s likely your DNA test was run on equipment that contains components made by our growing IDEX Health & Science team.