Job Description
Who We Are:
Aurelius Systems is a VC backed defense tech startup building autonomous, edge deployed directed energy systems for counter-UAS. We build laser weapons to shoot down drones.
We're a small team of engineers, former US military operators, and subject matter experts scaling America's directed energy dominance. The first cost effective, reliable and robust laser weapon system.
Our namesake isn't an accident. Marcus Aurelius wrote about doing the work in front of you, every day, without excuses. Henry Ford didn't wait for permission to reinvent manufacturing. That's how we operate — small team, unreasonable output, no hiding behind the unachievable.
In addition to our San Francisco lab, we’ve opened a Detroit manufacturing hub and we field test weekly on our own 400-acre private range.
The Role & Your Impact:
You'll own the beam train end-to-end, from simulation to field demo.
You take Zemax models and turn them into hardware that works downrange. You run aberration analysis on long path, large aperture, broad frequency systems. You spec the optics, design the opto-mechanical assemblies, build ruggedized hardware, and align and characterize integrated systems on the bench and in the field.
You'll work directly alongside our laser engineer on source-side trades, our mechanical team on integration, and our electrical team on system-level packaging. The laser engineer owns the source. You own everything between the source and the target.
This is a senior role. We want someone who can walk into a design review and tell us about optical strategies we haven't already considered.
What You'll Own:
Lead beam train optical design end-to-end
Own aberration mitigation on long path, large aperture, broad frequency systems
Spec and qualify optical components (lenses, mirrors, coatings, windows) for high power laser operation
Design ruggedized opto-mechanical mounts, housings, and assemblies for field-deployed environments
Run opto-mechanical tolerance analysis and validate designs through structural and thermal modeling
Lead optical alignment, characterization, and beam quality measurement on integrated systems
Support field testing end-to-end: setup, alignment, data collection, post-test analysis, failure writeups
Work directly with fabricators and vendors on DFM, tolerancing, and production readiness
Generate optical system documentation, drawings, and BOMs meeting MIL-STD and ITAR requirements
What We're Looking For:
5+ years (or PhD + 3 years) in opto mechanical design with shipped hardware
Optical system design in Zemax OpticStudio
Aberration mitigation experience on long path, large aperture, broad frequency systems
Industrial laser tooling background
Hands-on optical alignment and characterization experience
Mechanical design experience in CAD (SolidWorks preferred) for opto-mechanical mounts, housings, and assemblies
Understanding of thermal and structural effects on optical performance
Familiarity with high-power laser optics and their damage thresholds, coating selection, thermal lensing
Comfortable working across mechanical, electrical, and laser teams to integrate optical subsystems
Not a fit if: Your experience is entirely theoretical or software-based with no hands-on optical bench or hardware integration work.
We want to talk if you've designed a beam train, taken it from simulation to a working system, and put your hands on the alignment yourself.
Education:
BS or MS in Optical Engineering, Physics, Mechanical Engineering, or related field.
What you've built matters more than where you went to school.
How You Operate:
Extreme bias for action. You'd rather build a prototype tomorrow than model it for a month
Rigorous testing mindset. You characterize your own systems before the field does
Comfortable with ambiguity and fast, constantly iterating in a startup environment
Your brain only releases dopamine when you're building
You debug from first principles, not Stack Overflow
Clear communicator across mechanical, electrical, optical, and software teams
Self-directed. You identify what needs to happen next and do it without being told
Why Join Aurelius Systems?
Build more in 1 month than most engineers build in 1 year. We field test weekly. Your work goes downrange, not into a filing cabinet.
Career velocity is real. Erick Brito went from Founding Robotics Engineer to Lead in 12 months. At ~10 engineers, there are no layers between you and impact… or between you and your next title.
Work on a problem that actually matters. Small, cheap drones are changing warfare. Our laser systems are the asymmetric answer. Think infinite magazine, cost-per-shot near zero, scalable to every base, border, facility, truck and infrastructure.
Join the densest defense startup ecosystem in the country. California is where the next generation of defense companies are being built. You'll be in the room with the people reshaping how America builds weapons.
How we work: Core hours are Monday through Friday, 9 to 6. When we're sprinting toward a demo or field test, the team ramps up — nights, weekends, whatever it takes to ship. When the sprint lands, we ramp down. We don't manufacture intensity for show.
Benefits:
Competitive salary + equity
United Health Care medical, dental, and vision coverage
Flexible 18 days PTO + 5 sick days
Travel to field test events and range days
Covered daily lunches and office snacks + drinks
E-bike / scooter stipend ( Up to $500)
Direct access to leadership and real ownership over your work
Export Control Notice:
This role requires access to export-controlled information or items that require "U.S. Person" status. As defined by U.S. law, individuals who are any one of the following are considered to be a "U.S. Person": (1) U.S. citizens, (2) legal permanent residents (a.k.a. green card holders), and (3) certain protected classes of asylees and refugees, as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).