Principal, Photonics Engineer

Location San Francisco Employment Type Full time Location Type On-site Department Engineering Compensation $130K – $170K • Offers Equity Who We Are: Aurelius Systems is a VC-backed defense tech startup building autonomous, edge-deployed robotics systems using directed energy for counter-UAS. We build laser weapons to shoot down drones. We’re a small team of ~10 engineers, former US military operators, and subject matter experts scaling America’s directed energy dominance. The first cost effective, reliable and robust laser weapon system. Our namesake isn’t an accident. Marcus Aurelius wrote about doing the work in front of you, every day, without excuses. Henry Ford didn’t wait for permission to reinvent manufacturing. That’s how we operate; small team, unreasonable output, no hiding behind the unachievable. In addition to our San Francisco lab/office, we opened our Detroit manufacturing hub and we field test weekly on our own 400-acre private range. If you are the kind of engineer who’d rather see your work on a range than in a lab, read on. The Role & Your Impact: We need a Laser Engineer who has actually built fiber laser systems. You’ll own the laser source from fiber to beam. That means designing, building, and field-testing the high-power fiber laser systems that put energy on target. You’ll work across the full optical chain (pump diodes, fiber combiners, gain fibers, beam delivery optics) and make it all survive real-world conditions. This isn’t a role where you write papers about pulse dynamics or maintain someone else’s laser. You’ll splice fiber, align optics, troubleshoot thermal issues in the field, and watch your system destroy a drone. The feedback loop between your bench and the test range is days, not weeks. What You’ll Own: Design and build high-power fiber laser systems from pump architectures, gain stages, and fiber combiners to beam delivery optics Perform fusion splicing, fiber preparation, and connector termination for high-power fiber assemblies Architect thermal management solutions like heat sinking, active cooling, and thermal modeling to maintain beam quality under sustained operation Develop and optimize beam deliver y and beam combining systems for maximum power-on-target Select and integrate pump diodes, gain fibers (Yb, Er, Tm), fiber Bragg gratings, and passive optical components Drive hands‑on prototyping, assembly, alignment, and field testing on our range Characterize laser performance like output power, beam quality (M²), spectral stability, and thermal behavior under operational conditions Perform optical simulations to optimize designs before you build (Zemax, MATLAB, COMSOL, or equivalent) Design for manufacturability and ruggedization. Our systems must survive transport, vibration, and harsh field environments Integrate laser systems with power electronics, perception, and control subsystems Generate schematics, BOMs, test procedures, and documentation meeting MIL-STD and ITAR requirements What We’re Looking For: 2–7+ years building fiber laser systems or high-power fiber-based optical systems Direct hands‑on experience with fusion splicing, fiber preparation, and high‑power fiber assembly Deep understanding of fiber laser physics, from stimulated emission, nonlinear effects (SBS, SRS), thermal lensing, and how they limit real systems Experience selecting and integrating pump diodes, gain fibers, couplers, isolators, and fiber Bragg gratings Proficient with optical test equipment (power meters, beam profilers, OSAs, and thermal cameras) Comfort with optical simulation tools (Zemax, MATLAB, RP Fiber Power, COMSOL, or equivalent) Familiarity with beam combining approaches (spectral, coherent, or incoherent) is a strong plus Where you probably come from: Fiber laser companies (IPG, nLIGHT, Lumentum, TRUMPF), directed energy programs (Lockheed, Northrop, Raytheon HEL), university laser labs that build high‑power fiber systems (CREOL, Wyant, MIT Lincoln Lab), or photonics startups where you were hands‑on with fiber laser builds. Not a fit if: Your experience is primarily using commercial lasers as tools (laser machining, laser scanning, lidar integration), semiconductor laser fabrication in a cleanroom, or free‑space solid‑state laser design without fiber experience. We need people who build fiber laser sources, not people who plug them in. Nice‑to‑Haves: Experience with directed energy weapon systems or defense laser programs Background in spectral or coherent beam combining for power scaling Familiarity with MIL-STD standards and ITAR compliance Experience with ruggedized optical system deployment in harsh environments Active security clearance or ability to obtain one Experience with laser safety protocols and high‑power laser operations Education: BS, MS, or PhD in Optical Engineering, Photonics, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or related field. What you’ve built matters more than where you went to school. How You Operate: Extreme bias for action. You’d rather build a prototype tomorrow than model it for a month Rigorous testing mindset. You characterize your own systems before the field does Comfortable with ambiguity and fast, constantly iterating in a startup environment Your brain only releases dopamine when you’re building You debug from first principles, not Stack Overflow Clear communicator across mechanical, electrical, optical, and ML teams Self‑directed. You identify what needs to happen next and do it without being told Why Join Aurelius Systems? Build more in 1 month than most engineers build in 1 year. We field test weekly. Your work goes downrange, not into a filing cabinet. Career velocity is real. Erick Brito went from Founding Robotics Engineer to Lead in 12 months. At ~10 engineers, there are no layers between you and impact… or between you and your next title. Work on a problem that actually matters. Small, cheap drones are changing warfare. Our laser systems are the asymmetric answer. Think infinite magazine, cost-per-shot near zero, scalable to every base, border, facility, truck and infrastructure. Join the densest defense startup ecosystem in the country. California is where the next generation of defense companies are being built. You’ll be in the room with the people reshaping how America builds weapons. How we work: Core hours are Monday–Friday, 9 to 6. When we’re sprinting toward a demo or field test, the team ramps up… nights, weekends, whatever it takes to ship. When the sprint lands, we ramp down. We don’t manufacture intensity for show. We go hard when the mission demands it, and we recover when it doesn’t. If you’ve worked at SpaceX, against a mission‑critical timeline, or on a racing team, you already know the rhythm. Benefits: Competitive salary + equity United Health Care medical, dental, and vision coverage Flexible 18 days PTO + 5 sick days Travel to field test events and range days Covered daily lunches and office snacks + drinks E‑bike / scooter stipend ( Up to $500) Direct access to leadership and real ownership over your work Export Control Notice: This role requires access to export‑controlled information or items that require “U.S. Person” status. As defined by U.S. law, individuals who are any one of the following are considered to be a “U.S. Person”: (1) U.S. citizens, (2) legal permanent residents (a.k.a. green card holders), and (3) certain protected classes of asylees and refugees, as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3). Compensation Range: $130K - $170K #J-18808-Ljbffr Wheel the World