Senior Optical Engineer

About Lyte

Lyte builds perception systems for Physical AI operating in complex environments. The company combines custom silicon, integrated sensors, and software into a unified platform for robotics, mobility, and next-generation automation. Lyte is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with a global presence. For more information, visit www.lyte.ai

If you’re excited about building impactful technology in a dynamic, hands-on environment, we’d love to hear from you!

About the role

We are seeking a highly motivated and hands-on Senior Optical Engineer to join our System Optics Team. The team is responsible for defining, designing, delivering, and validating optical components and subsystems that meet product-level performance requirements.

This is a product engineering role rather than a pure R&D position. You will own optical components and subsystems from requirements definition and detailed design through qualification, manufacturing introduction, and sustaining support.

The successful candidate will lead lens and optical component design activities, including requirements and specification development, optical design and tolerancing, vendor execution, validation, and future-generation development. This role requires strong hands-on experience with optical design tools and lab-based optical testing and characterization.

What you'll do

• Own optical design activities for lenses, windows, mirrors, and other optical components, including engineering requirements, specification definition, and requirements flow-down from system-level performance targets.
• Develop and optimize optical designs using Zemax OpticStudio, CODE V, or equivalent tools, including optimization, tolerancing, sensitivity analysis, Monte Carlo analysis, performance modeling, and manufacturability assessment.
• Lead optical design execution across internal engineering teams, external design consultants, suppliers, and manufacturing partners.
• Review and approve optical design deliverables, including prescriptions, tolerance analyses, Monte Carlo results, drawings, and supplier documentation.
• Define specifications, acceptance criteria, and validation methods for optical components and assemblies.
• Partner with optical suppliers and manufacturing teams to resolve design, fabrication, assembly, and performance issues.
• Own optical designs from concept and prototype through qualification, NPI, and production support, including yield improvement, cost reduction, and sustaining engineering.
• Plan and execute hands-on optical testing and characterization, including MTF, wavefront error (WFE), distortion, relative illumination, boresight, and stray-light measurements.
• Correlate measured optical performance with simulation models, design assumptions, and specifications.
• Lead future-generation optical design efforts, including architecture studies, trade-off analyses, technology evaluations, and next-generation optical solutions.
• Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, firmware, DSP, software, manufacturing, quality, and supplier teams to ensure optical designs meet system-level requirements.
• Lead optical design reviews and clearly communicate technical decisions, trade-offs, risks, and recommendations.
• Develop practical solutions that balance optical performance, manufacturability, cost, schedule, and product requirements.
• Develop analysis and automation workflows in Python or equivalent tools to support design, tolerancing, test correlation, and data analysis.
• Analyze optical performance data and drive root-cause investigation of issues such as aberrations, alignment sensitivity, stray light, ghosting, tolerance stack-up, and manufacturing variation.

Required Qualifications

• Master's or Ph.D. in Optical Engineering, Photonics, Physics, or a related field with 3-5+ years of relevant experience, or a bachelor's degree with 7+ years of relevant optical engineering experience.
• Hands-on experience in lens or optical system design.
• Proficiency with Zemax OpticStudio, CODE V, or equivalent optical design and simulation software.
• Strong fundamentals in geometrical and physical optics, imaging systems, aberration theory, and optical system engineering.
• Experience defining optical requirements and specifications from system-level performance requirements.
• Experience with optical tolerancing, sensitivity analysis, Monte Carlo analysis, and correlation between simulation and measured hardware performance.
• Hands-on experience with optical testing, characterization, system bring-up, debugging, and validation.
• Experience with lens manufacturing processes, optical materials, coatings, mechanical interfaces, and design-for-manufacturing considerations.
• Experience supporting optical designs through qualification and manufacturing introduction.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and cross-functional communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading or technically managing optical design work performed by external consultants, optical suppliers, or manufacturing partners.
• Experience supporting optical products through production, including yield improvement, cost reduction, and sustaining engineering.
• Experience developing next-generation lens concepts, optical architectures, or system-level trade studies.
• Experience with optical component and system measurements including MTF, WFE, distortion, relative illumination, boresight, and stray light.
• Experience using Python or similar tools for optical analysis, test automation, and data analysis.
• Experience working across multidisciplinary teams spanning optics, mechanical, electrical, firmware, DSP, software, manufacturing, and quality.

Benefits (subject to location and local regulations)

• Competitive salary and equity
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Flexible vacation and time-off policy
• Collaborative, fast-paced, and inclusive work environment
• Opportunity to work on cutting-edge technologies with a highly cross-functional team