Sr. Applied Research Engineer

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced scientist or engineer to join our Applied Research team and contribute to the advancement of next-generation technologies within our Corneal Health (CH) product portfolio. This role will play a central part in driving early-stage innovation, technology development, and translational research efforts aimed at expanding the capabilities and clinical impact of our ophthalmic medical device platforms.

The successful candidate will work at the intersection of experimental science, engineering, and clinical translation to develop new technologies and methodologies. A key focus of this role will be designing, implementing, and translating imaging, and computational approaches that enable improved understanding and quantification of corneal structure and biomechanics.

The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise spanning experimental system development, signal processing and algorithm design, and biomechanical modeling, with a strong interest in translating research concepts into robust, validated technologies.

Responsibilities:

• Contribute to the design and development of current and next-generation ophthalmic medical devices, from early research through translational development.
• Design, implement, and experimentally evaluate different corneal imaging modalities and elastography approaches, including comparative performance analysis, sensitivity, repeatability, and clinical relevance, to inform system design and future technology directions.
• Design, develop, implement, and optimize advanced biomechanical imaging and elastography-based techniques to assess corneal biomechanical properties and their changes due to therapeutic interventions (e.g., crosslinking treatments).
• Develop, maintain, and refine experimental biomechanical imaging systems, including imaging subsystems, excitation mechanisms, data acquisition hardware, synchronization, and system calibration procedures.
• Develop, optimize, and maintain processing and post-processing algorithms and software pipelines for biomedical imaging data.
• Ensure robustness, reproducibility, and performance of processing pipelines across experimental conditions, system configurations, and datasets.
• Collaborate closely with hardware, software, and systems engineering teams to integrate algorithms and experimental methods into prototype and product-level medical devices.
• Oversee data collection, preprocessing, algorithm development, validation, and performance characterization through rigorous experimental testing.
• Design controlled experiments, phantoms, and validation protocols to compare system performance and biomechanical measurement techniques.
• Communicate technical results clearly through design reviews, internal reports, and technical documentation; contribute to publications, patents, or regulatory submissions as appropriate.

Work Experience:

• PhD in Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, or a related field, or MS/Bachelor’s degree with equivalent industry experience.
• 5–8+ years of relevant experience (3–5+ years with an MS degree or 0–4+ years with a PhD) developing biomechanical assays, experimental imaging systems, and quantitative analysis algorithms.
• Demonstrated experience with elastography, biomechanical imaging, or quantitative tissue characterization techniques in research or commercial environments; experience in regulated medical device settings is a strong plus.
• Strong background in experimental system development, including imaging system design, hardware–software integration, and measurement system validation.
• Expertise in signal processing and algorithm development for imaging data.
• Strong programming skills in Python or similar scientific programming languages; experience with C++, C#, or other systems-level programming languages is a plus.
• Experience developing maintainable, well-documented scientific software and transitioning research code into robust implementations is a plus.
• Familiarity with medical imaging, ophthalmic technologies, or related biomedical applications.
• Experience working with medical device regulations, standards, and technical documentation for regulatory submissions is a strong plus.
• Familiarity with machine learning or statistical learning applied to imaging or biomechanical data is a plus.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across disciplines and levels of the organization.

#GKOSUS

Generous. Innovative. Leadership-driven. Family-oriented. Socially responsible.

Founded in 1998, Glaukos Corporation is an ophthalmic pharmaceutical and medical technology company focused on developing and commercializing novel therapies for the treatment of glaucoma, corneal disorders, and retinal diseases.

Our mission at Glaukos is to truly transform vision by pioneering novel, dropless therapies that can meaningfully advance the standard of care and improve the lives of patients suffering from chronic, sight-threatening eye diseases.

Innovation is at the core of everything we do, and we are resolute in our commitment to challenge conventional thinking with new treatment alternatives that are supported by real science, robust clinical evidence, and an unrelenting focus on patients.

Our constant pursuit of game-changing technologies that disrupt legacy treatment paradigms is encapsulated in the Glaukos mantra “We’ll Go First,” which articulates our willingness to take chances, our determination to forge new ground, and our commitment to continuous improvement in all that we do.

Our company completed an initial public offering in June of 2015, and our shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “GKOS”. Our global headquarters is in Aliso Viejo, California with additional locations in San Clemente, California, and Burlington, Massachusetts.

Glaukos Corporation is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer . All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex including sexual orientation and gender identity, national origin, disability, protected Veteran Status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

All offers of employment are contingent upon the successful completion of a background check, including successfully passing a drug screen, based on the position and local regulations.