ZipRecruiter

Log In

1

Optical Coating Engineer Jobs in Colorado (NOW HIRING)

Excelitas Technologies

R&D Software Engineer

Boulder, CO · On-site

$110K - $150K/yr

... optical coating manufacturing. Main Responsibilities * Support current and develop new ... Collaborates with Thin Film Engineering team and incorporates feedback into current and future ...

Xcimer Energy

Coatings Materials Scientist

Denver, CO · On-site

Work closely with the optics and laser engineering teams to define coating requirements, performance targets, and integration constraints. * Lead hands-on coating deposition efforts, including thin ...

Xcimer Energy

Coatings Materials Scientist

Denver, CO

$140K - $170K/yr

Work closely with the optics and laser engineering teams to define coating requirements, performance targets, and integration constraints. * Lead hands-on coating deposition efforts, including thin ...

Xcimer Energy

Coatings Materials Scientist

Denver, CO · On-site

Work closely with the optics and laser engineering teams to define coating requirements, performance targets, and integration constraints. * Lead hands-on coating deposition efforts, including thin ...

AURA

Senior Optical Engineer

Boulder, CO · On-site

$134K - $169K/yr

The Senior Optical Engineer for ngGONG plays a central role in shaping the optical performance of ... Prepare specifications and statements of work for optical fabrication and coating contracts.

IDEX Corporation

Optical Engineer

Longmont, CO · On-site

$127K - $165K/yr

Translate customer needs and specifications into manufacturable designs using CAD, coating design ... Bachelor's degree in Optical Engineering, Physics, Mechanical Engineering (with optics focus), or ...

IDEX

Optical Engineer

Longmont, CO

$127K - $165K/yr

Translate customer needs and specifications into manufacturable designs using CAD, coating design ... Bachelor's degree in Optical Engineering, Physics, Mechanical Engineering (with optics focus), or ...

Excelitas Technologies

Coater Technician

Boulder, CO · On-site

$20 - $24/hr

This site offers capabilities that include substantial design and engineering resources, comprehensive optical fabrication and coating capabilities, advanced assembly technology and an extensive in ...

Thorlabs

Photonics Engineer II

Lafayette, CO · On-site

$110K/yr

... optical metrology: * Develop advanced characterization systems that provide new insights into coating performance, substrate characteristics, and support improvements in production yield * Design ...

Thorlabs

Photonics Engineer II

Lafayette, CO · On-site

$110K/yr

... optical metrology: * Develop advanced characterization systems that provide new insights into coating performance, substrate characteristics, and support improvements in production yield * Design ...

Attalon

Lead Mechanical Engineer

Longmont, CO · On-site

$88K - $151K/yr

S., Attalon engineers critical optical, laser, and coating technologies that enable systems to see farther, target faster, and survive the harshest environments. From high-energy directed laser ...

Excelitas Technologies

Quality Engineer

Boulder, CO · On-site

$73K - $115K/yr

This site offers capabilities that include substantial design and engineering resources, comprehensive optical fabrication and coating capabilities, advanced assembly technology and an extensive in ...

Excelitas Technologies

Thin Film Technician

Boulder, CO · On-site

$20 - $26/hr

This site offers capabilities that include substantial design and engineering resources, comprehensive optical fabrication and coating capabilities, advanced assembly technology and an extensive in ...

Excelitas Technologies

Thin Film Technician

Boulder, CO

$22 - $26/hr

This site offers capabilities that include substantial design and engineering resources, comprehensive optical fabrication and coating capabilities, advanced assembly technology and an extensive in ...

next page

Showing results 1-20

All JobsOptical Coating Engineer JobsOptical Coating Engineer Jobs in Colorado

Optical Coating Engineer information

See Colorado salary details

$79.4K

$105.5K

$128.8K

How much do optical coating engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Jul 21, 2026, the average yearly pay for optical coating engineer in Colorado is $105,487.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $93,100.00 and $115,100.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What does an Optical Coating Engineer do?

An Optical Coating Engineer designs, develops, and applies thin-film coatings to optical components to enhance performance by controlling reflection, transmission, and absorption of light. They work with vacuum deposition techniques, material science, and precision engineering to create coatings for lenses, mirrors, and optical filters. Their role involves process development, quality control, and troubleshooting to meet performance specifications for industries like aerospace, telecommunications, and medical imaging.

What are some typical projects or daily tasks for an Optical Coating Engineer?

As an Optical Coating Engineer, your daily tasks often include designing thin-film coating processes, calibrating deposition equipment, performing quality inspections, and troubleshooting production issues. You may collaborate closely with optical designers, manufacturing technicians, and quality assurance teams to ensure coatings meet specific optical and mechanical requirements. Projects can range from developing anti-reflective coatings for lenses to creating specialized filters for advanced scientific or industrial applications. Working in this role provides a dynamic mix of hands-on lab work, process optimization, and teamwork, making it both challenging and rewarding.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in the Optical Coating Engineer position, and why are they important?

To thrive as an Optical Coating Engineer, you need strong expertise in optics, materials science, thin-film deposition techniques, and typically a degree in physics, engineering, or a related field. Familiarity with vacuum coating equipment, spectrophotometers, and industry-specific software such as thin-film design and simulation tools is highly beneficial. Attention to detail, problem-solving ability, and effective teamwork are important soft skills for excelling in this role. These skills enable precise development and application of optical coatings, ensuring product quality and successful collaboration across multidisciplinary teams.

What are popular job titles related to Optical Coating Engineer jobs in Colorado? For Optical Coating Engineer jobs in Colorado, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What job categories do people searching Optical Coating Engineer jobs in Colorado look for? The top searched job categories for Optical Coating Engineer jobs in Colorado are:
What cities in Colorado are hiring for Optical Coating Engineer jobs? Cities in Colorado with the most Optical Coating Engineer job openings:
Optical Coating Engineer jobs near you
Senior EO/IR Optical Engineer - Level V

Senior EO/IR Optical Engineer - Level V

Arcfield

Louisville, CO • On-site

$134K - $174K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Life, Retirement, PTO

Posted 8 days ago

Job description

Responsibilities
Build Optical Systems That Actually Fly
Orion Space Solutions designs and builds operational space payloads for national security and advanced sensing missions. Our instruments fly on orbit and deliver mission-critical data for government and commercial customers.
We are looking for a top-tier EO/IR Optical Engineer who can own the optical answer from model to measurement to flight hardware. This is not a generic lens-design role. You will work on real payloads, real test data, real alignment problems, and real mission performance.
This role is focused on non-sequential ray tracing, optical metrology, interferometry, stray-light control, and payload verification. You will help extend Orion's capability in EO/IR payloads, narrowband imaging systems, Fabry-Perot / etalon-based instruments, optical benches, and contamination-sensitive flight or prototype hardware.
If you want to build models that drive hardware decisions - and then see those decisions tested in the lab and flown in space - this is the job.
Why Orion:
  • Your work flies in space.
  • Small, high-talent engineering teams with direct ownership of mission hardware.
  • Fast-moving programs solving hard EO/IR sensing, calibration, and payload problems.
  • A technical environment where modeling, metrology, and hardware have to converge.

Responsibilities
  • Build, maintain, and validate FRED non-sequential optical models for EO/IR payloads, optical benches, baffles, filters, detectors, calibration sources, and flight-like test setups.
  • Perform stray-light, ghost, scatter, vignetting, detector-irradiance, and baffle analyses that directly influence hardware design.
  • Model realistic coatings, apertures, stops, source geometries, CAD structures, surface scatter, BRDF/BSDF data, and detector response maps.
  • Plan and execute optical metrology for lenses, mirrors, windows, filters, etalons, optical flats, optical benches, and assembled payloads.
  • Use interferometric methods to evaluate surface figure, transmitted wavefront error, wedge, parallelism, optical alignment, and system-level wavefront performance.
  • Support PSF, MTF, spectral transmission, radiometric, and stray-light testing for prototype, engineering, and flight hardware.
  • Develop alignment plans, test procedures, verification matrices, supplier acceptance criteria, and optical analysis reports.
  • Work directly with optical, mechanical, thermal, detector, software, manufacturing, quality, and program teams in rapid design-build-test cycles.
  • Help solve hard optical performance problems when the model, metrology data, hardware, and schedule do not initially agree.

Qualifications
Qualifications
Required:
  • Bachelor's degree or higher in a computer engineering or computer science field plus 12-15 years, MS plus 10-13 years, or PhD plus 10+ years of professional experience in software engineering for high-reliability space and aerospace applications.
  • Direct experience with FRED or equivalent non-sequential optical modeling tools; FRED experience is strongly preferred.
  • Experience with stray-light, ghost, scatter, baffle, or detector-irradiance analysis.
  • Hands-on optical metrology or interferometry experience, including test setup, data interpretation, and error-source diagnosis.
  • Ability to interpret and specify surface figure, TWE, wedge, parallelism, roughness, coating performance, spectral transmission, PSF, and MTF.
  • Ability to convert analysis and test results into engineering decisions, tolerances, procurement specifications, and verification evidence.
  • Clear technical writing and the ability to brief results to scientists, engineers, program managers, customers, and suppliers.

Preferred
  • Experience with space payloads, satellite instrumentation, missile-warning, remote-sensing, or national-security optical systems.
  • Experience with Fabry-Perot etalons, interferometers, narrowband imaging systems, hyperspectral/spectral instruments, or high-stability optical benches.
  • Experience using Fizeau or phase-shifting interferometers, autocollimators, spectrometers, monochromators, integrating spheres, collimators, or detector test stations.
  • Familiarity with Zemax OpticStudio, CODE V, MATLAB, Python, SolidWorks/CAD import workflows, optical coating data, and ISO 10110 optical specifications.
  • Experience supporting environmental test, thermal vacuum, vibration, cleanroom optical handling, contamination control, supplier acceptance, or AS9100 development environments.
  • Incomplete information, aggressive schedules, and hardware that needs to work the first time.
  • Working at the boundary between optical design, lab metrology, optomechanics, contamination control, and flight qualification.
  • Walking from a FRED model into the lab, looking at the hardware, and closing the loop with measured data.
  • Owning technical closure rather than waiting for someone else to define the next step.

If you want to do serious optical engineering on systems that leave the ground, Orion is the place to do it.
Equal Pay Act
This is the projected compensation range for this position. There are differentiating factors that can impact a final salary/hourly rate, including, but not limited to, Contract Wage Determination, relevant work experience, skills and competencies that align to the specified role, geographic location (For Remote Opportunities), education and certifications as well as Federal Government Contract Labor categories. In addition, Arcfield invests in its employees beyond just compensation. Arcfield 's benefits offerings include, dependent upon position, Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Paid Time Off, Holiday Pay, Short Term and Long-Term Disability, Retirement and Savings, Learning and Development opportunities, wellness programs as well as other optional benefit elections. Min: $149,675.71 Max: $260,257.02
EEO Statement
We are an equal opportunity employer and federal government contractor. We do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment as protected by law.

Apply