Staff Optical Engineer Jobs in Rochester, NY (NOW HIRING)

Requisition Number: 74319

The company built on breakthroughs. 
Join us.                   

Corning is one of the world's leading innovators in glass, ceramic, and materials science. From the depths of the ocean to the farthest reaches of space, our technologies push the boundaries of what's possible. 

How do we do this? With our people. They break through limitations and expectations- not once in a career, but every day. They help move our company,and the world, forward. 

At Corning, there are endless possibilities for making an impact. You can help connect the unconnected, drive the future of automobiles, transform at-home entertainment, and ensure the delivery of lifesaving medicines. And so much more. 

Come break through with us. 

Corning's businesses are ever-evolving to best serve our customers, industries, and consumers. Today, we accelerate and transform life sciences, mobile consumer electronics, optical communications, display, automotive, and solar markets. We are changing the world with: 

• Trusted products that accelerate drug discovery, development, and delivery to save lives
• Damage-resistant cover glass to enhance the devices that keep us connected
• Optical fiber, wireless technologies, and connectivity solutions to carry information and ideas at the speed of light
• Precision glass for advanced displays to deliver richer experiences 
• Auto glass and ceramics to drive cleaner, safer, and smarter transportation 
• Solar polysilicon, wafers, and innovative photovoltaic modules, enabling low-cost solar energy solutions

Purpose of Position

The Controls & Hardware Supervisor provides technical and supervisory leadership for the development of measurement, control, and automation systems used to evaluate performance, optimize quality, and ensure compliance of complex optical systems. This role works with multidisciplinary engineering teams to specify, develop, build, and maintain complex test systems for use in both engineering and production environments, while supervising and mentoring a team of engineers and technicians.

Day to Day Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership for the architecture and development of metrology, controls, hardware, and software systems supporting optical system test and measurement.
• Supervise, mentor, and provide day-to-day guidance to a team of approximately 6-8 engineers and technicians, including task assignments, technical oversight, and performance feedback.
• Define metrology and controls system architectures for test benches to enable comprehensive assessment of optical system performance.
• Develop and maintain error budgets and use them to refine test bench architectures to ensure robust and repeatable measurements.
• Specify, design, assemble, test, and document automated test and control systems, including motors, detectors, cameras, data acquisition, timing circuitry, wiring, and cable assemblies for prototype and production environments.
• Develop and maintain software applications to automate test execution, data acquisition, analysis, and data storage in engineering and production settings.
• Coordinate technical activities with optical design, mechanical engineering, manufacturing, quality, and program management teams.
• Support test system deployment, troubleshooting, and sustainment in both laboratory and cleanroom environments.
• Serve as a technical contributor on complex projects, maintaining approximately 50% hands on involvement alongside supervisory responsibilities.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• 5+ years of industrial or combined industrial and graduate level research experience.
• Experience working on complex, multidisciplinary engineering projects with challenging technical requirements and schedule constraints.
• Firm foundation in mathematical analysis, including statistics and trigonometry.
• Strong understanding of error sources, error budgeting, and mitigation techniques.
• Background in electronics, including analog and digital circuits, with hands on troubleshooting experience using tools such as multimeters and oscilloscopes.
• Familiarity with optical elements, imaging systems, and illumination systems.
• Familiarity with developing software using interpreted or scripted languages such as Python or MATLAB.
• Demonstrated experience leading small teams, supervising technical staff, or mentoring engineers.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience developing precision measurement systems, including architecture definition, error budgeting, and calibration.
• Programming experience in C, C++, or C#.
• Experience with National Instruments Lab Windows or LabVIEW environments.
• Experience with computer vision systems and libraries (e.g., OpenCV).
• Familiarity with control loops, PID tuning, and process automation.

Travel Requirements

Occasional travel may be required to support program needs, integration activities, or coordination with other company sites.

This position does not support immigration sponsorship.

The range for this position is $126,041.00 - $173,307.00 assuming full time status. Starting pay for the successful applicant is dependent on a variety of job-related factors, including but not limited to geographic location, market demands, experience, training, and education. 

A job that shapes a life. 

Corning offers you the total package. 

We prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected status.

Corning is committed to providing equal employment opportunities and considers requests for reasonable accommodations in accordance with applicable laws. Individuals with disabilities or sincerely held religious beliefs may request reasonable accommodations to participate in the application or interview process, perform essential job functions, or access other benefits and privileges of employment. To submit a request for reasonable accommodation related to disability or religion, please contact us at accommodations@corning.com.