Optical Project Engineer

Job ID: 2505005

Location: AURORA, CO, US

Date Posted: 2025-04-29

Category: Engineering and Sciences

Subcategory: Systems Engineer

Schedule: Full-time

Shift: Day Job

Travel: Yes, 10 % of the Time

Minimum Clearance Required: TS/SCI

Clearance Level Must Be Able to Obtain: TS/SCI with Poly

Potential for Remote Work: No

Description

SAIC is seeking an Optical Project Engineer to join the Space and Intelligence Business Group. You would work on a joint Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD) crown jewel program providing highly specialized space/counter-space engineering, scientific, and analytical services from Aurora, Colorado. We support the Nation's leading-edge IC and DoD space programs and offer compelling, deep-technical work that has direct influence and impact on program development and operations. Our team has Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) across a variety of disciplines, including physics, math, RF, optics, space acquisition and operations, and intelligence collection and analysis. Clearance required to start is Top Secret/SCI and ability to obtain a Polygraph.

This Optical Project Engineer will work in a collaborative team-focused environment of U.S. Government civilians and contractors solving applied technical problems and developing usable solutions for multiple space-related capabilities and threats. The ideal candidate will:

• Have knowledge and experience with the performance of:
  • Ground or space-based optical or laser systems, the fields of photonics or optoelectronics, space object optical characterization, or optical data processing techniques.
  • Optical systems in Space Domain Awareness (SDA) applications.
• Be able to lead, track, and status projects for a small team of optical engineers focused on program-specific analysis, foreign threat capabilities and development, and phenomenology research.
• Be motivated by problem solving and developing a range of solutions, over system development.

Duties and responsibilities include:

• Lead a team of optical engineers and analysts in program-specific analyses, foreign threat capabilities and development, and optical and laser phenomenology research.
• Tasking, timelines, status, and deliverables for the optical team across the analysis, threat and phenomenology functions.
• Represent the Optical team and coordinate with cross-phenomenology project engineers and teams.
• Understand and negotiate needs for Optical team support and/or status tasks previously assigned to the Optical team.
• Request support, obtain status, negotiate needs from cross-phenomenology teams on projects led by the Optical team.
• Execute the above in the office workflow process, which includes team meetings, scrums, product peer reviews, and program-specific meetings.
• Maintain communications and schedule meetings with end-customer offices, coordinate information needs, product delivery timelines and status.
• Maintain the Optical team's JIRA elements (e.g. tasks, resources, schedule) and their digital notebook that contains internal/external team meeting notes, and trip reports.
• Provide status of Optical team projects, tasks, and deliverables to program and immediate government customer management at periodic reviews.
• Identify, remove, and/or escalate blockers to team tasks or deliverables.
• Participate in intelligence or cross-team product production meetings as required.
• Desired salary range is $120K to $160K.

Qualifications

Required Skills:

• Minimum of a Bachelor's Degree in Physics, Engineering or Math and 9 or more years (7 or more with a Masters) of direct experience.
• Active TS/SCI Clearance with Special Access eligibility and consent to a Counter Intelligence (CI) polygraph.
• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Experience with ground or space-based optical or laser systems, the fields of photonics or optoelectronics, space object optical characterization or data processing techniques.
• Experience with project or task technical leadership.
• Experience with JIRA project management tool and familiarity with Agile concepts.
• Understanding of fundamentals of astrodynamics and space systems.
• Knowledge of space system acquisitions or space technology developments.
• Demonstrated record of effective individual and group work behaviors, with abilities to proactively initiate and operate in dynamic and incompletely defined environments.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with experience conveying technical concepts, results, and summaries to internal customers, external customers, and stakeholders of diverse technical backgrounds.

Strongly Desired Skills:

• Master's Degree in Physics, Engineering, or Mathematics.
• Familiarity or experience with optical systems in Space Domain Awareness (SDA) applications.
• Familiarity with National Security Space architecture (IC and/or DoD).
• Familiarity with US Intelligence Community resources and products.

Target salary range: $120,001 - $160,000. The estimate displayed represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience and other factors.