Principal Photonic Systems Engineer at K2 Space
Los Angeles, CA
$110,000–$280,000from the description
Jul 15, 2026
Los Angeles, CA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
This role centers on designing, building, and deploying photonic circuits and optical payloads intended for operation in MEO, GEO, cis-lunar, and deep-space environments. The engineer will own the full system lifecycle — from architecture and SNR budgets through environmental qualification, vendor management, and on-orbit commissioning — while also forecasting team staffing needs and mentoring supporting engineers. It suits a seasoned optical systems professional with broad product lifecycle experience who is comfortable leading technical work on novel, high-volume space hardware.
Senior level · 8+ years · National · Bachelor's required · Full-time
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
Why we read it this way (6)
This role is primarily a photonic/optical hardware engineering position — not a software or computer occupation. No SOC code in the allowed list cleanly fits; 15-1299 (Computer Occupations, All Other) is used as the closest available code, but the confidence in the occupation is Low. The role is better described by an engineering SOC (e.g. 17-2199 Electrical/Electronics Engineers, NEC) which is not in the permitted list.
Work location is not stated in the posting. K2 Space is headquartered in El Segundo, CA (Los Angeles metro), but no city or state is explicitly mentioned — CBSA left blank.
The salary range ($110,000–$280,000/year) is unusually wide, spanning roughly Junior through Staff levels; the posting notes it will vary by knowledge, skills, education, and experience.
The role includes people-management responsibilities (forecasting staffing, defining roles, interviewing, mentoring), but the primary day-to-day work is hands-on photonic/optical engineering, so it is classified as an individual-contributor role rather than a management role.
Skills such as 'optical system design', 'SNR budget analysis', 'stray light modeling', 'fiber coupling', and 'optical tolerancing' are hardware/physics engineering concepts rather than named software tools, but they are the concrete, named technical competencies explicitly required by this posting and are retained to faithfully represent the hard gates.
Ignored 4 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): optical system design, SNR budget analysis, stray light modeling, space environment failure modes.
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