{"id":838847,"url":"https://alion.io/job/becoming-optics-engineer","title":"Optics Engineer","company":{"id":670153,"name":"Becoming","domain":"becoming.ai","url":"https://alion.io/company/becoming","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workable","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":83,"open_postings":3,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.667,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-10-17T05:46:00Z"}},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":null,"employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Francisco, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":83000,"max_usd":197000,"period":"year","method":"role_country_seniority_unknown","sample_n":13313},"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-07-16T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-07-16","last_verified_at":"2026-10-17T10:52:15Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":93,"trust":{"level":"stale","repost_count":0,"flags":["stale"],"days_open":93},"description":"About Becoming\nBecoming is building Developmental Intelligence: AI for predicting how organisms change over time.\nMost experimental systems fail when metabolic demands become too high. We are building systems that don’t - by combining engineered metabolic environments, sensing, control, and software into tightly integrated products that operate reliably over long time horizons.\nHardware is core to our platform. It must work continuously, predictably, and under real biological constraints.\nThe Role\nWe are hiring an Optics Engineer to architect and own optical subsystems within Becoming’s integrated hardware platform.\nThis is a senior builder role. You will design stable, production-grade optical systems that integrate tightly with mechanical structures, electronics, firmware, and data systems - and you will be accountable for their real-world performance.\nThis is not a research imaging role. You will think in terms of alignment stability, signal integrity, manufacturability, and long-duration runtime.\nYou will define specifications, make architecture decisions, and own outcomes.\nWhat You’ll Own\nEnd-to-end ownership of optical subsystems inside complex hardware platforms \nOptical path architecture: illumination, detection, filtering, and signal optimization \nComponent selection with attention to stability, lifecycle, and manufacturability \nMechanical integration and alignment strategy under thermal and environmental constraints \nElectrical integration of detectors and signal acquisition systems \nSignal-to-noise optimization and drift mitigation \nCalibration frameworks and long-term stability validation \nPrototyping, stress testing, and failure analysis \nDocumentation and standards that enable scaling\nWho You Are\nYou are someone who:\nOperates with high agency - you identify problems, define solutions, and execute\nTakes end-to-end ownership of what you build\nBrings high energy to complex, ambiguous engineering challenges\nActs with high integrity - you are honest about tradeoffs, risks, and failure modes\nCommunicates directly and clearly, especially when something won’t work\nIs self-aware about your strengths and gaps, and proactively fills them\nThinks like a systems integrator, not a narrow specialist\nCares deeply about understanding systems at a first-principles level\nRequirements\nHave built optical systems that operated outside of controlled lab demos \nThink in systems, not just ray traces \nUnderstand how optical decisions impact mechanical tolerances and electrical noise \nSurface limitations and risks clearly \nPrefer robust architectures over fragile precision \nStay composed debugging signal degradation in live systems \nRaise the technical bar around you\nYou take responsibility for whether the signal holds up over time - not just whether the design simulated correctly.\nStrong Signals\nDegree in optics, physics, electrical engineering, or equivalent demonstrated depth \n Experience designing and shipping integrated optical systems \n Strong first-principles understanding of optical design and detection physics \n Experience integrating optics with mechanical and electrical platforms \n Demonstrated ownership of systems operating under real-world constraints \n Ability to operate without rigid process scaffolding or heavy vendor abstraction\nBenefits\nCompetitive salary and meaningful equity\nFull benefits\nHigh-trust, high-ownership environment\nRapid growth in scope and responsibility","description_format":"text","description_chars":3435,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["AI for Science"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-12T20:36:36Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":6,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.226,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":93,"expected_fill_days":22,"reasons":["conf:1","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-17T05:46:00Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/becoming-optics-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/becoming-optics-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-17T11:50:55Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":15608,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-18T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":670153},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=670153"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fbecoming-optics-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fbecoming-optics-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fbecoming-optics-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/becoming-optics-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fbecoming-optics-engineer"}]}