Northrop Grumman Space Systems is looking for a Staff Optical Engineer to support the Launch Vehicles organization in Chandler, Arizona.

The Staff Optical Engineer, will be part of the Seeker IPT, you will utilize your expertise to coordinate multi-disciplinary team efforts to ensure integration and performance at the seeker level and higher systems.

The team is responsible for the development of the design, integration and testing of development and flight hardware, evaluation of performance as it pertains to the algorithms, supporting the development of the seeker test suite, and ensuring representative physics-based models to support algorithm development and 6 DoF.

The selected candidate should thrive in a fast-paced work environment with significantly diverse assignments and collaborative/team settings across all levels.

Responsibilities:

• Coordinate the efforts between multi-disciplinary teams to ensure an integrated seeker system solution.

• Decompose requirements from performance basis, identify appropriate verification methodology, and evaluate performance of concept and detailed design.

• Interfacing with the customer to provide technical status updates on activities such as design efforts, integration status, maturation plans and procedures, and testing results

• Overseeing error budgets pertaining to the seeker solution and the ability to support modeling that is used to inform either requirements or design sources of error

• Develop seeker hardware, optical system research and development, data analysis, and evaluation of algorithm development as it pertains to the hardware

• Overseeing vendor development activities and ensure deliverable timeframes are met

• Develop and maintain a strong technical understanding of seeker systems to aid in identification and troubleshooting of potential issues and ensuring all requirements flowed from the customer’s statement of scope are addressed

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in a STEM discipline (Science, Technology, Engineering or Math)

• Level V - requires a Bachelors and 14 years' experience or a Masters and 12 years experience.

• Ability to obtain a DoD Secret Security Clearance

• Seeker requirement decomposition from top level customer requirements

• Experience with optical imaging systems ranging from the visible to LWIR spectrum

• Understanding of Fourier analysis and numerical analysis

• Experience in root cause and corrective action methodologies

• Experience with optical design tools: ZEMAX, Code V, FRED, NX, and Solid Works

• Experience working on real-time hypersonic missile interceptor systems

• High proficiency in MATLAB and Python toolchains

Preferred Qualifications:

• BS/MS/PhD in optical engineering or physics

• Active Secret Security Clearance

• Experience with missile systems and associated standards

• Previous experience with DOD missile defense programs

• Experience with relevant seeker con-ops and performance needs

• Experience with EO systems including optical design, analysis and tolerancing, error budgets, opto-mech, and focal plane technologies

• Experience in seeker algorithms design

• Experience with MBSE, modeling of optical sensors to manipulate target signatures