{"id":3246755,"url":"https://alion.io/job/mitre-optical-engineer-for-directed-energy","title":"Optical Engineer for Directed Energy","company":{"id":37980,"name":"MITRE","domain":"mitre.org","url":"https://alion.io/company/mitre","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Phenom","truth_index":null},"role":"Semiconductors","role_family":"Semiconductors","seniority":"staff","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["McLean, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":156400,"max":195500,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":195500},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":10,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Verification & Validation","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-20T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-20","last_verified_at":"2026-10-26T06:42:12Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":6,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":6},"description":"At MITRE, your passion fuels work that impacts our nation and improves lives. This is where your skills strengthen national security, cybersecurity, health, transportation, and citizen services. We’re a nonprofit engineering, applied research, and advanced technology organization working in the public interest. With objectivity and integrity at our core, we lead federally funded research and development centers for U.S. government agencies - collaborating with industry and academia to deliver integrated, high-impact solutions that advance our nation’s health, security, and prosperity. Our people tackle the toughest technical challenges, supported by competitive benefits, meaningful career development, and a culture of innovation, collaboration, and technical excellence. Choose MITRE for a career with purpose - and help shape the future.Department Summary:\nMITRE Technology and Engineering inspires breakthroughs in applied science and advanced technology to transform the future of U.S. scientific and economic leadership. Our goal: innovation from sea to space to support our mission of serving in the public interest. In addition to executing on a rich set of challenges through the six Federal Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) that MITRE operates on behalf of its sponsors, MITRE Technology and Engineering works with broader federal, state, and local government to develop robust partnerships with industry and academia to drive impact in the public interest.\nIn support of this mission, MITRE Technology and Engineering operates several Innovation Centers which focus on various technologies. The Emerging Technologies Innovation Center (ETIC) focuses on emerging technologies that can provide transformational solutions to MITRE sponsors in the mid to long term. The Chemical and Optical Sciences (CH&OS) Department within ETIC provides innovative solutions to address new opportunities and challenges associated with these and other novel emerging technologies. The CH&OS Department serves as a vanguard for MITRE to meet the future needs of our customers, requiring technical excellence while encouraging creativity and fostering interests in current and emerging technologies across its diverse employees. To meet increased demand, we are looking to hire an Optics expert that understands capabilities associated with optical warfare. Specifically, a focus on directed energy (DE) high-power laser systems and their enabling technologies.\nThe successful candidate will combine deep technical expertise with the ability to identify emerging sponsor needs, develop new work, lead multidisciplinary teams, and build trusted relationships across government, industry, academia, national laboratories, and other research organizations. The role will encompass physics-based modeling and simulation, system analysis, development of laboratory and field-representative testbeds, experimental validation, technology assessment, and transition planning.\nRoles & Responsibilities:\nLead multidisciplinary teams performing analysis, modeling, experimentation, prototyping, and systems engineering for high-power laser systems and associated technologies.\nOversee the development and application of physics-based models for laser sources, beam propagation, atmospheric effects, beam control, adaptive optics, pointing and tracking, thermal management, optical performance, and system effectiveness.\nEstablish sound modeling and simulation practices, including verification, validation, sensitivity analysis, uncertainty quantification, configuration management, and comparison with experimental or operational data.\nLead the design, integration, and operation of small-scale laboratory or field-representative testbeds used to evaluate key technologies, validate models, reduce technical risk, and demonstrate system concepts.\nDefine test objectives, performance metrics, instrumentation requirements, data-collection plans, and analysis methods for high-power laser experiments and demonstrations.\nConduct system-level analyses and trade studies addressing performance, size, weight, power, cooling, reliability, beam quality, maintainability, safety, cost, manufacturability, and operational suitability.\nAssess the maturity, limitations, and mission relevance of emerging laser sources, optical components, beam directors, sensors, control systems, materials, coatings, power systems, and thermal-management technologies.\nAdvise government sponsors on technical strategy, investment priorities, acquisition approaches, test and evaluation, technology maturation, transition planning, and risk reduction.\nConvene government and industry stakeholders to identify shared technical barriers, clarify interface requirements, develop common evaluation methods, and accelerate the transition of promising technologies.\nLead or contribute to proposals, concept papers, sponsor briefings, statements of work, technical plans, independent assessments, and strategic investment recommendations.\nProvide technical oversight and quality assurance for DE projects, including independent review of assumptions, models, experimental methods, results, and conclusions.\nEnsure that all laboratory and test activities comply with applicable laser-safety, electrical-safety, range-safety, environmental, security, export-control, and information-protection requirements.\nCommunicate complex technical findings clearly to senior government leaders, acquisition professionals, operational stakeholders, engineers, and scientists.\nRepresent the organization through technical workshops, professional conferences, sponsor engagements, industry exchanges, publications, and other thought-leadership activities, consistent with security and release requirements. Support the exploration and pursuit of opportunities within the non-traditional sponsor space\nCollaborate with MITRE Technology and Engineering (MTE), MITRE National Security (MNS), and MITRE Public Sector (MPS) leaders to ensure work program growth is aligned with technical capabilities and personnel. \nBasic Qualifications:\nTypically required a minimum of 10 years of related experience with a bachelor’s degree; or 8 years and a master’s degree; or a PhD with 5 years of experience.\nDegree in Physics, Engineering, or related field.\nDemonstrated technical leadership of multidisciplinary research, engineering, modeling, test, or prototype-development efforts.\nStrong knowledge of several high-power laser system elements, such as laser sources, beam quality, beam propagation, atmospheric turbulence, adaptive optics, beam control, pointing and tracking, optical materials and coatings, thermal management, power systems, or laser-system integration.\nExperience developing, using, or technically overseeing physics-based models and simulations for complex optical, laser, or DE systems.\nUnderstanding of model verification and validation, experimental design, uncertainty analysis, sensitivity analysis, and the responsible interpretation of modeling and test results.\nExperience designing, integrating, or operating laboratory test equipment, optical experiments, prototype systems, hardware-in-the-loop environments, or field-representative testbeds.\nAbility to translate broad mission or operational needs into technical objectives, analytical approaches, experimental plans, and measurable performance criteria.\nExperience working directly with government sponsors, senior technical leaders, program managers, operational stakeholders, or acquisition organizations.\nAbility to evaluate technologies objectively, identify critical technical risks, and communicate both the potential and limitations of emerging capabilities.\nStrong written and oral communication skills, including experience preparing technical reports, proposals, decision briefings, and presentations for technical and nontechnical audiences.\nCommitment to technical rigor, research integrity, public-interest service, responsible experimentation, and the safe execution of laser-related activities.\nAbility and willingness to travel periodically to sponsor locations, government laboratories, industry facilities, test sites, and technical conferences.\nMust have an active Top Secret U.S Government issued Security Clearance and must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI U.S Government issued Security Clearance.. Per the U.S. Government’s eligibility requirements, you must be a U.S Citizen to be considered for a security clearance.\nThis position requires a minimum of 4 days a week on-site\nPreferred Qualifications:\nExperience integrating models from multiple technical domains into system-level simulations or digital engineering environments.\nExperience developing hardware-in-the-loop, software-in-the-loop, or operator-in-the-loop test environments.\nExperience planning or executing tests at government ranges, outdoor propagation sites, laser laboratories, or other controlled test facilities.\nFamiliarity with laser safety standards and experience serving as, or working closely with, a laser safety officer.\nUnderstanding of relevant acquisition, systems engineering, test and evaluation, technology-readiness, manufacturing-readiness, and transition processes.\nExperience assessing the domestic industrial base and supply-chain risks associated with lasers, precision optics, coatings, detectors, specialty materials, thermal-management systems, and related components.\nExperience establishing public-private partnerships, cooperative research efforts, consortia, or collaborative government-industry test programs.\nDemonstrated success developing a technical portfolio, securing new project funding, leading proposal efforts, or growing sponsor relationships.\nDemonstrated ability to lead through influence, build consensus across organizational boundaries, and establish effective partnerships with external organizations.\nDemonstrated ability to identify new work opportunities and develop technical concepts, project plans, proposals, or sponsor-funded research activities.\nExperience managing technical investments, laboratory resources, equipment procurements, subcontractors, or external research performers.\nRecord of relevant publications, patents, invited presentations, standards development, technical leadership, or participation in professional organizations.\nUnderstanding of high-power microwave systems.\nAn active U.S. TS SCI security clearance.\nThis requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s):\nTop SecretThis requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s):\nTop Secret/SCISalary compensation range and midpoint:\n$156,400 - $195,500 - $234,600 AnnualWork Location Type:\nOnsiteCommitment to Non-Discrimination\nAll qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, local or international law.\nMITRE intends to maintain a website that is fully accessible to all individuals. If you are unable to search or apply for jobs and would like to request a reasonable accommodation for any part of MITRE’s employment process, please email  for general support and  for intern positions. This service is for individuals requiring reasonable accommodation requests. Please note that vendor solicitations will not receive a reply.\nBenefits information may be found here.\nCopyright © 1997-2026, The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. MITRE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. Material on this site may be copied and distributed with permission only.","description_format":"text","description_chars":11735,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":10,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Space & Aerospace","National Security","Homeland Security"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-25T19:11:07Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":6,"expected_fill_days":36,"reasons":["conf:3","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-26T05:57:25Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":195500,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/mitre-optical-engineer-for-directed-energy","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/mitre-optical-engineer-for-directed-energy.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-26T07:48:48Z","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":10328,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-27T00:00:00Z"}},"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":37980},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=37980"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fmitre-optical-engineer-for-directed-energy"},{"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%2Fmitre-optical-engineer-for-directed-energy"},{"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%2Fmitre-optical-engineer-for-directed-energy"},{"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/mitre-optical-engineer-for-directed-energy\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fmitre-optical-engineer-for-directed-energy"}]}