Senior Optical Engineer

We are looking for a Senior Optical Engineer to design the optics behind our products for defence and automotive, based at our Helsinki HQ. At Distance, traditional and computational optics are designed together, so you get to solve problems with both, not just with glass. And your work won't stop at a simulation: you'll see your designs go from the screen to manufactured parts to the lab bench.

WHY DISTANCE?

At Distance Technologies, the problem we're solving is simple to state and hard to solve: the amount of data in the world is endless, but human capacity is not. We are building a fundamentally new perception layer between humans and machines, transforming transparent surfaces into interfaces unlike the world has ever seen. Think of the windscreen of a car, the visor of a helmet, or a sight device, each becoming a new front-end for AI. The way we turn bits and atoms into expanded human perception is protected by over 50 granted international patent families. We build it for two demanding worlds: defense and automotive. And we build it from a single foundation fusing software, hardware and computational optics.

There are over 50 of us today, with decade-long experience building world's best products, optics, and open-source operating systems. We partner and build with globally leading companies like KIA, FORVIA HELLA, Supacat, and Galvion, and we were Google Ventures' first investment in Finland. What we're building is hard, and will fundamentally change how we operate and see the world, and that's exactly why we seek exceptional people who enjoy building things never seen before.

THE ROLE

You'll join a small team of experienced optical engineers within our hardware team, working on optical design across our products, from the first architecture to parts that end up in the actual products. In the beginning, much of your work will relate to products like our Field Operator HUD (FOH). Alongside the optics team, you'll work closely with the rest of hardware, the wider R&D organisation and project management, and split your time between simulation, the lab and our manufacturing partners.

Your core responsibilities include:

Optical architecture: Designing the optical systems for our products.

Stray light and artifacts: Simulating and cutting down ghosting, flare, god rays and chromatic aberration in tools like Zemax OpticStudio or Code V.

Designing for the human eye: Finding the right balance between a wide field of view, a large eyebox, comfortable eye relief and high optical efficiency. These pull against each other, and knowing where to land is a big part of the job.

Displays and sensors: Making the lenses work together with high-resolution micro-displays (MicroOLED, MicroLED) and the eye-tracking cameras.

Design for manufacturing: Working with injection molding and nano-fabrication vendors so our plastic optics can be made in volume with high yield.

Lab: Building and maintaining our optical lab setups.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU?

• What you design goes into products for defence and automotive, not demos built for fun. The specs are strict for a reason: a driver or a soldier has to be able to trust what they see.

• The whole chain. You take a design from simulation through manufacturing to testing, and see for yourself what held up.

• Lots of variety. Designing, building test setups, planning tests and running them.

• Optics meets computation. Combine the two for more agile imaging paths, with plenty of room for simulation work on technology that's genuinely new.

• AI in optics design. Work out with the team how AI can be used in optics design, and help decide how we do it.

• Eyes on what's next. Part of the job is keeping up with and scouting the latest XR technologies.

OUR EXPECTATIONS

• You have senior-level industry experience in optics.

• You've worked with optics design software such as Zemax OpticStudio, Code V, Speos or LightTools, for optics design and for stray light and ghost analysis.

• You know how optics are manufactured and coated.

• You've done tolerance and yield analysis.

• You're at home in the lab and can build your own test setups when nothing off the shelf fits.

• You have a Master's or PhD in optical engineering, physics or electrical engineering. A focus on imaging or illumination systems is a plus.

• You like it when the work isn't fully mapped out yet and you get a real say in how it's done.

The role is based at our Helsinki HQ, and with the lab work involved you'll be onsite most of the time. Strong English is essential, as our team is international.

DID WE GET YOU INTERESTED?

Apply via the application form! Our recruitment process includes 2-3 discussions with the team. If you want to learn more about the position, reach out to our recruiter, Joel Kinnunen, at joel@distance.tech. Kindly note that, for data privacy reasons, we are not able to process applications sent via email.