2

Entry Level Principal Optical Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

We are seeking an Optical Engineer to lead optical test, characterization, and modeling for free ... Principals only. We are not accepting resumes from recruiters for this position. Remuneration for ...

Showing results 21-40

Entry Level Principal Optical Engineer information

See salary details

$74K

$147.2K

$212.5K

How much do entry level principal optical engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Sep 8, 2026, the average yearly pay for entry level principal optical engineer in the United States is $147,220.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $118,500.00 and $173,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is the difference between Entry Level Principal Optical Engineer vs Optical Engineer?

AspectEntry Level Principal Optical EngineerOptical Engineer
CredentialsBachelor's or Master's in Optical Engineering, Physics, or related field; some certificationsBachelor's or Master's in Optical Engineering, Physics, or related field
Work EnvironmentResearch labs, product development, design teams in tech and optics companiesDesign, testing, and development in similar settings, often with less leadership responsibility
Employer & Industry UsageUsed in high-tech, aerospace, defense, and optics manufacturing companiesCommon in tech, manufacturing, and research organizations

The Entry Level Principal Optical Engineer typically has more advanced responsibilities, including project leadership and strategic planning, compared to a standard Optical Engineer. While both roles require similar educational backgrounds, the principal role often involves more experience and a focus on innovation and mentorship. The main difference lies in the level of responsibility and scope of work within the organization.

What cities are hiring for Entry Level Principal Optical Engineer jobs?

Cities with the most Entry Level Principal Optical Engineer job openings:

What are the most commonly searched types of Principal Optical Engineer jobs?

The most popular types of Principal Optical Engineer jobs are:

What states have the most Entry Level Principal Optical Engineer jobs?

States with the most job openings for Entry Level Principal Optical Engineer jobs include:

What are popular job titles related to Entry Level Principal Optical Engineer jobs?

For Entry Level Principal Optical Engineer jobs, the most frequently searched job titles are:

Infographic showing various Entry Level Principal Optical Engineer job openings in the United States as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 94% Full Time, 2% Part Time, and 4% Contract. Highlights an 85% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 10% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $147,220 per year, or $70.8 per hour.

Principal Network Engineer - Optical Engineering

Nashville, TN • On-site

Oracle
IT Services • 10K+ employees

$124K - $161K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Posted 8 days ago


Oracle rating

8.7

Company rating: 8.7 out of 10

Based on 152 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

57th of 247 rated software companies


Job description

The Principal Optical Engineer will be joining the Optical Network Engineering team which is responsible for building and scaling Oracle's Optical Transport Network. The team is focused on engineering and development, as well as FOA deployment of optical transport solutions and systems. The successful candidate will have a direct impact on our top priority of delivering optical capacity and engineering solutions to support Oracle's cloud and Al infrastructure to provide metro optical transport solutions in support of the needs of the network. To continue to drive down costs for equipment and services for metro and optics. To train other teams to deploy and operate optical systems. To provide operations support to ensure availability and uptime of the metro optical network.

This role has up to 25% travel to data center sites. 

Only Oracle brings together the data, infrastructure, applications, and expertise to power everything from industry innovations to life-saving care. And with AI embedded across our products and services, we help customers turn that promise into a better future for all. Discover your potential at a company leading the way in AI and cloud solutions that impact billions of lives.

True innovation starts when everyone is empowered to contribute. That's why we're committed to growing a workforce that promotes opportunities for all with competitive benefits that support our people with flexible medical, life insurance, and retirement options. We also encourage employees to give back to their communities through our volunteer programs.

We're committed to including people with disabilities at all stages of the employment process. If you require accessibility assistance or accommodation for a disability at any point, let us know by emailing accommodation-request_mb@oracle.com or by calling 1-888-404-2494 in the United States.

Oracle is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and protected veterans' status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Oracle will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records pursuant to applicable law.

Disclaimer:
Certain U.S. based or U.S. customer or client-facing roles may be required to comply with applicable requirements, such as immunization/occupational health mandates, and/or drug testing requirements.
Range and benefit information provided in this posting are specific to the stated locations only
US: Hiring Range in USD from: $114,600 to $234,600 per annum. May be eligible for bonus, equity, and compensation deferral.
Oracle maintains broad salary ranges for its roles in order to account for variations in knowledge, skills, experience, market conditions and locations, as well as reflect Oracle's differing products, industries and lines of business.
Candidates are typically placed into the range based on the preceding factors as well as internal peer equity.
Oracle US offers a comprehensive benefits package which includes the following:
1. Medical, dental, and vision insurance, including expert medical opinion
2. Short term disability and long term disability
3. Life insurance and AD&D
4. Supplemental life insurance (Employee/Spouse/Child)
5. Health care and dependent care Flexible Spending Accounts
6. Pre-tax commuter and parking benefits
7. 401(k) Savings and Investment Plan with company match
8. Paid time off: Flexible Vacation is provided to all eligible employees assigned to a salaried (non-overtime eligible) position. Accrued Vacation is provided to all other employees eligible for vacation benefits. For employees working at least 35 hours per week, the vacation accrual rate is 13 days annually for the first three years of employment and 18 days annually for subsequent years of employment. Vacation accrual is prorated for employees working between 20 and 34 hours per week. Employees working fewer than 20 hours per week are not eligible for vacation.
9. 11 paid holidays
10. Paid sick leave: 72 hours of paid sick leave upon date of hire. Refreshes each calendar year. Unused balance will carry over each year up to a maximum cap of 112 hours.
11. Paid parental leave
12. Adoption assistance
13. Employee Stock Purchase Plan
14. Financial planning and group legal
15. Voluntary benefits including auto, homeowner and pet insurance
The role will generally accept applications for at least three calendar days from the posting date or as long as the job remains posted.

Career Level - IC4


Key Responsibilities:

  • Lead network lifecycle management programs by defining high-level objectives, delivery procedures, technical milestones, and supporting tasks.
  • Serve as a technical lead for moderately complex projects, coordinating the work of two to three engineers as needed.
  • Advise project and program managers while coordinating with immediate and skip-level leadership.
  • Collaborate with teams across the organization and serve as a technical subject-matter expert in cross-functional initiatives.
  • Own technical project requirements, specifications, designs, and documentation.
  • Decompose high-level network architectures into detailed, scalable solution designs.
  • Lead engineers in developing network solutions comprising multiple service layers and complex interactions.
  • Partner with service teams to ensure solutions are fully supported through monitoring, automation, and operational readiness processes.
  • Serve as a Tier 3 or specialized escalation point for network incidents, including break-fix support during large-scale events.
  • Act as the primary technical contact for driving systematic resolution of complex network issues and leading root-cause analysis efforts.
  • Develop scripts and automation to streamline complex or non-traditional operational tasks.
  • Lead or contribute to network automation design and delivery initiatives, applying a strong understanding of the software development lifecycle.
  • Provide technical guidance, coaching, and focused development support to junior and senior technical staff.
  • Conduct technical coaching sessions and help junior team members build relevant technical and professional skills.
  • Collaborate with vendor engineering teams and account managers to resolve current business and operational issues.
  • Participate in the development of RFQs and RFPs and support the evaluation and adoption of new vendor hardware and technology.
  • Maintain active communication with product teams, network leadership, and the PMO to identify gaps, assess solutions, and align technology investments with product and service requirements.

Preferred personal experience, characteristics and leadership skills:

You might be a good fit if you're a high-energy, strategic and technical leader, possessing a good sense of organizational timeliness with a performance-based track record of success.

  • A balance of strategic and tactical skills, with a high-level of intellectual agility and capacity for original thought.
  • An outstanding communicator who can write, present, and effectively adjust messages to meet individual audiences and organizations.
  • A consistent record to navigate and effectively collaborate with other groups and resources in large, sophisticated environments.
  • Ten to Fifteen years of industry experience, of which five or more years of relevant cloud experience.
  • Communicates and Influences: Clearly communicates information and ideas to individuals and teams in an eloquent, focused and compelling way. Willing to offer intellectual thought.
  • Analytical and Instinctual: Compares information from various sources to identify core issues. Uses data to make decisions but also understands that instinct plays a part in innovating. Always uses good common sense.
  • Possesses Business Insight: Deep understanding of cloud technology, business and operations with the ability to draw from personal experience to make recommendations.

Career Level - Senior level providing optical design, development, modification and evaluation of electronic, electro-mechanical or mechanical components, assemblies or integrated circuitry for hardware systems for the external market. Includes new design, as well as modification activities that results in significant product enhancement. Activities encompass design, analysis, testing and process development using engineering principles and methods. Technical subject areas may include electrical and logical design of printed circuit boards or integrated circuits; mechanical design of electronics enclosures or integrated circuit packaging; and embedded software/firmware design. It may encompass operational support at the Tier 3 level as well as product lifecycle management to include SW releases and feature development.

Qualifications

  • 6-10+ years network infrastructure engineering in optics and optical
  • Bachelors in Electrical Engineering, Masters preferred
  • Preferred skills include experience with some of the following: DWDM, ROADM, EDFA, Raman amplification, OTDR, optical spectrum analyzers (OSA), spectrum management, coherent optics, digital coherent optics (DCO), 400G ZR and 800G ZR, RFI/RFP/RFx processes, First Office Application (FOA), and L-band optical systems.
  • Experience with datacenter engineering cabling preferred
  • Product Lifecycle management a huge plus
  • Testing and Qualification background also a plus
  • Python coding and scripting is a also a big plus

**This role is not eligible for Visa Sponsorship.

#LI-CG2


What Oracle employees say

Pay

Benefits

Hours and flexibility

Workplace

Get the full story on Breakroom


Oracle logo

About Oracle

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

An Oracle career can span industries, roles, Countries and cultures, giving you the opportunity to flourish in new roles and innovate, while blending work life in. Oracle has thrived through 40+ years of change by innovating and operating with integrity while delivering for the top companies in almost every industry. In order to nurture the talent that makes this happen, we are committed to an inclusive culture that celebrates and values diverse insights and perspectives, a workforce that inspires thought leadership and innovation. Oracle offers a highly competitive suite of Employee Benefits designed on the principles of parity, consistency, and affordability. The overall package includes certain core elements such as Medical, Life Insurance, access to Retirement Planning, and much more. We also encourage our employees to engage in the culture of giving back to the communities where we live and do business. At Oracle, we believe that innovation starts with diversity and inclusion and to create the future we need talent from various backgrounds, perspectives, and abilities. We ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to successfully participate in the job application, interview process, and in potential roles. to perform crucial job functions. That's why we're committed to creating a workforce where all individuals can do their best work. It's when everyone's voice is heard and valued that we're inspired to go beyond what's been done before.

Industry

It services

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

Redwood City, CA, US

Year founded

1977

Social media