{"id":4036466,"url":"https://alion.io/job/star-catcher-optical-test-engineer-test-alignment-integration","title":"Optical Test Engineer - Test, Alignment & Integration","company":{"id":1906176,"name":"Star Catcher","domain":"star-catcher.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/star-catcher","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":null},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":"middle","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Jacksonville, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":3,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"MATLAB","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:40:22Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-11-10","last_verified_at":"2026-11-14T23:34:40Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":4,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":4},"description":"Power the future of Space at Star Catcher\nStar Catcher is building the first energy grid in space to power the orbital economy.\nToday’s spacecraft must generate all of their own power, which caps what they can do and how long they can operate. But what if they could “plug” into a grid, the way buildings do on Earth? Instead of cables and outlets, Star Catcher is building the technology to wirelessly beam energy to spacecraft’s existing solar panels when and where they need it.\nBe an early member of a team building an entirely new energy infrastructure at scale to power the next frontier.\nStar Catcher Industries, Inc., located in Jacksonville, Florida, has an opportunity for an Optical Engineer - Test, Alignment & Integration to support the development of space-to-space power beaming spacecraft and the Star Catcher Network, its orbital power grid. \nKey Responsibilities\nPlan and conduct optical experiments and verification tests for beam expanders, imaging telescopes, PAT hardware, and fiber laser subsystems.\nAlign optical systems, including large and off-axis reflective optics, using interferometers, autocollimators, alignment telescopes, laser trackers, and coordinate measuring machines (CMMs).\nCharacterize optical performance, including transmitted and reflected WFE (interferometry), surface figure, MTF and PSF, boresight, and dimensional metrology.\nCharacterize laser beams, including power, M² (ISO 11146), beam profiles, pointing stability and jitter, polarization, and spectrum.\nSupport environmental testing, including optical performance checks before and after vibration, through-window testing in thermal vacuum (TVAC), and alignment stability verification.\nCharacterize the optical response of photovoltaic receivers under laser illumination (irradiance uniformity, spectral and angular response), working with Electrical Engineering, who perform the electrical measurements.\nWrite test plans, procedures, and reports; design test fixtures and ground support equipment (GSE).\nAnalyze test data in Python or MATLAB and feed results into WFE and pointing budgets.\nMaintain lab readiness, including contamination control, cleanroom practice, and Class 4 laser safety procedures.\nBasic Qualifications\nEducation: Bachelor's degree in Optical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical discipline.\nExperience: 3+ years of hands-on optical test, alignment, or integration experience.\nTechnical Expertise\nInterferometric testing (e.g., Zygo or 4D Technology interferometers), including null tests and data reduction.\nAlignment of reflective optical systems, including off-axis optics, using autocollimators, alignment telescopes, and interferometers.\nLaser beam characterization tools: power meters, beam profilers, M² measurement systems, and wavefront sensors.\nExperience writing and executing formal test procedures and reports.\nData analysis in Python or MATLAB.\nWorking knowledge of Class 4 laser safety and cleanroom practices.\nPreferred Qualifications\nLarge Optics: Alignment and testing of 0.5 m class or larger optics, including computer-generated hologram (CGH) null testing.\nEnvironmental Test: Optical testing in TVAC and before and after vibration.\nMetrology: Laser trackers, CMMs, and alignment cubes/theodolites.\nContamination Control: Experience with IEST-STD-CC1246 cleanliness levels and contamination control plans.\nPV Testing: Characterization of solar cells or laser power converters.\nLaser Safety: Experience as a laser safety officer or deputy.\nHelp us deploy and scale space infrastructure that will drive our utilization of space forward! We offer a highly competitive benefits package including access to comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, 401(k) retirement plan, life insurance, and paid parental leave, in addition to other benefits.\nStar Catcher is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Star Catcher is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.\nAll offers of employment at Star Catcher are contingent upon results of a thorough background check and your ability to provide proof of eligibility to work in the US.\nTo conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.","description_format":"text","description_chars":4716,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":3,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Life insurance","Parental leave","Retirement plans"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Space Services"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-11-10T20:29:54Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":3,"expected_fill_days":60,"reasons":["conf:1","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-11-14T05:58:10Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/star-catcher-optical-test-engineer-test-alignment-integration","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/star-catcher-optical-test-engineer-test-alignment-integration.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-14T23:58:45Z","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":32331,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-15T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01,"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":1906176},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=1906176"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fstar-catcher-optical-test-engineer-test-alignment-integration"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"free","price":{"credits":0,"usd":0},"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%2Fstar-catcher-optical-test-engineer-test-alignment-integration"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01},"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%2Fstar-catcher-optical-test-engineer-test-alignment-integration"},{"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/star-catcher-optical-test-engineer-test-alignment-integration\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fstar-catcher-optical-test-engineer-test-alignment-integration"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":4036466}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"star-catcher.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":4036466},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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