Sr. Optical Systems Engineer

With approximately 1,400 employees operating in more than 20 countries, Spectrum Safety Solutions is a global leader in fire detection and suppression solutions for high-hazard applications such as critical infrastructure, oil and gas, marine and clean energy. Our global team leverages strong customer relationships across four recognized brands, Det-Tronics, Marioff, Autronica, and Fireye, to deliver differentiated lifecycle solutions and advance growth across key segments. Carved out from Carrier s Fire & Security business in July 2024, Spectrum Safety Solutions is now a privately-held company under the ownership of Sentinel Capital Partners.

We make the world a better place to live! At Spectrum s Det-Tronics, we build and maintain comfortable, accessible, efficient, healthy, safe, secure, and sustainable environments. Det-Tronics is a $180M technologically innovative, projects-based global brand protecting customers in many challenging environments with high end flame and gas detection products and systems. Det-Tronics is a part of Spectrum Safety Solutions and has a global footprint with manufacturing sites in the U.S. and sales presence in all key geographies.

The ideal candidate should be an enthusiastic experimentalist, expert in optical principles, and possess hands-on

experience with simulation, design & data analysis tools. The Sr. Optical Systems Engineer owns the development of optical systems for new product development and assists in sustaining engineering efforts on existing products. This encompasses developing both top-level and sub-system optical requirements, along with detailed test cases to define the associated optical, algorithm, electrical, and mechanical design aspects that meet the product and business objectives. They act as the technical lead on projects and develop and command an expert level understanding of the product requirements and maintain a deep technical understanding of the optical design and functional requirements. They interact across all business teams and functions, provide technical expertise in customer and vendor interactions, and play a key role in defining future products and derivatives.

• Design, prototype and test various optical detection systems for industrial applications.
• Develop and validate computational models to guide new product algorithm development and to inform sensor technology roadmaps.
• Develop and document requirements, architectures, and optical system designs including simulations and analyses.
• Provide technical project leadership for optical subsystems on flame or gas detector projects, interfacing with cross-functional teams including mechanical, electrical and firmware engineers.
• Conduct preliminary sensor and component research to support future product developments. Develop software and test instrumentation needed to gather relevant information.
• Actively participate in strategic planning, concept generation, architecture definition and translation to system/subsystem definitions for optical systems that are reliable, safe, manufacturable, cost effective and sustainable.
• Lead optical CAD modeling efforts to support an iterative mechanical design process based on testing for correlation and verification.
• Ensure full traceability of applicable requirements and develop and execute experiments for formal verification and validation test cases.
• Follow an analysis-based design development methodology using mathematical models and tolerance analyses for optics and algorithm systems, balancing manufacturability against cost.
• Support and contribute to leading the development and documentation of risk analyses.
• Act as a technical point of contact on projects to ensure standards compliance, supporting approvals and certification testing.
• Work on and support multiple product development programs at a given time.
• Track present outcomes and progress on a frequent basis.
• Participate in evaluation of technical talent.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

• Advanced degree in physics or engineering.
• At least 5 years of professional work experience.
• At least 2 years direct experience in non-imaging optical system design.

• Educational degree focus in Optics, Applied or Experimental Physics, Material Science, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering with an emphasis or research focus on non-imaging optical systems.
• Demonstrated experience using or creating optical simulation and/or data analysis tools in programming languages such as Matlab, Python or C.
• Experience with non-sequential ray-trace software such as FRED or Tracepro.
• Demonstrated experience with a Requirements/Test Case Management tool, such as Doors, Jama, or Jira.
• Experience with optical sensors and materials in the SWIR to LWIR range.
• Familiarity with CAD software such as SolidWorks or Creo, and test automation tools such as LabView, Matlab & Python.
• Strong communication skills to translate market needs from Product Managers, Technical Support, Service Personnel, and Customers to design requirements.
• Ability to work both collaboratively and independently on assignments to foster continuous improvement of team functions and deliverables.
• Experience across all phases of the program development lifecycle, from capture through design, implementation, and test.
• Self-motivated and demonstrated ability to lead process and requirements/test case efforts.
• Familiarity with high hazard applications (Industrial Life Safety, SIL2) or regulated industries (aerospace or medical devices).