Lead Optical Manufacturing Technician

About the Role:

As the Lead Optical Manufacturing Technician, you will oversee and guide a team of 5 optical technicians responsible for building, testing, aligning, and characterizing optical payloads across multiple satellite programs. You will become deeply knowledgeable in the optical architecture, program milestones, and manufacturing workflows across all optics lines, enabling you to delegate effectively, ensure priorities are clear, unblock issues quickly, and maintain high technical and operational standards.

You will serve as the primary liaison between the optics technicians in manufacturing and optomechanical/optical engineering teams, translating requirements, ensuring proper documentation and training, and maintaining an efficient communication loop. The ideal candidate combines strong optics expertise, excellent communication, proactive leadership, and the organizational rigor needed to drive multiple optical programs forward in a fast-paced environment.

This is a full-time, in-office position based in our San Francisco office 5 days per week.

Impact You'll Own:

• Lead a team of optics technicians through daily standups, clear task delegation, and continuous alignment across multiple active optical payload programs.
• Become fully fluent in the optical design, requirements, test needs, and build sequences for all optics programs (e.g., telescopes, focal planes, camera assemblies).
• Prioritize work across programs, ensuring the team is meeting deadlines, escalating blockers early, and keeping engineers informed.
• Train technicians on optical assembly, alignment, metrology, and test procedures; ensure all training and documentation is thorough and consistently followed.
• Own execution and quality standards for optical builds, including IPC cleanliness expectations, proper optical handling, and alignment best practices.
• Partner closely with optical and optomechanical engineers to resolve issues, perform root-cause analysis, request missing information, and ensure manufacturing readiness for new designs.
• Maintain a well-organized optics lab, including test equipment, metrology stations, optical benches, hardware, calibration tools, and inventory.
• Review, improve, and enforce detailed procedures and build instructions to ensure repeatability, clarity, and high-quality output.
• Report daily/weekly program status, team progress, and risks to engineering and manufacturing managers.
• Drive continuous improvement in throughput, yield, documentation, team communication, ergonomics, and workflow.

What You Bring:

• Bachelor’s degree in Optical Engineering, Physics, Optics, or related field.
• 6+ years of hands-on experience with imaging systems, telescope builds, optical metrology, or optomechanical assemblies.
• Strong understanding of optical alignment, image quality metrics, stray light considerations, camera calibration, and radiometric/MFT calculations.
• Ability to lead or mentor technical teams—delegation, prioritization, coaching, and performance feedback.
• Excellent communication skills (verbal, written, cross-functional), with demonstrated ability to clearly articulate needs, escalate early, and maintain strong engineering <> manufacturing alignment.
• High level of technical curiosity and the ability to ask clarifying questions when requirements, drawings, or instructions are ambiguous.
• Strong debugging and analytical skills for optomechanical and electrical subsystems.
• Proficiency with optical test equipment (interferometers, wavefront sensors, autocollimators, integrating spheres, monochromators, power meters).
• Strong organizational and documentation skills: ability to maintain clean labs, up-to-date procedures, and clear digital trails (Slack, JIRA, Confluence).
• Experience writing or modifying detailed test/assembly procedures.
• Ability to work in a high-speed, high-accountability environment with multiple deadlines and shifting priorities.
• Familiarity with laboratory safety, cleanroom practices, and handling of delicate optical components.

What Makes You Stand Out:

• Prior experience as a lead, supervisor, or senior optical technician/engineer.
• Success improving a lab’s operational health: workflows, communication loops, scheduling, and throughput.
• Experience with Zemax or equivalent optical modeling tools.
• Experience onboarding, training, and up-leveling technical talent.
• Experience bridging gaps between engineering and manufacturing teams, especially during new product introduction (NPI).
• Strong systems thinking — ability to anticipate next steps, downstream impacts, and potential risks before they become issues.
• Familiarity with Python, MATLAB, or lab automation tools.
  Experience bonding optics (epoxies, RTV), handling optical coatings, and completing precision alignments.
• Ability to thrive in a dynamic, high-pressure environment while maintaining quality and calm leadership presence.

Application Deadline:

March 16, 2026 at 11:59pm PT

EAR/ITAR Requirements:

This position requires access to export-controlled information, and as such, employment (or hiring of a contractor) is contingent upon the candidate’s ability to access all applicable export-controlled information without additional export licensing being required by the Bureau of Industry and Security and/or the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.

Benefits While Working at Planet:

These offerings are dependent on employment type and geographical location, based upon applicable law or company policy.

• Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision plans
• Health Savings Account (HSA) with a company contribution
• Generous Paid Time Off in addition to holidays and company-wide days off
• 16 Weeks of Paid Parental Leave
• Wellness Program and Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Home Office Reimbursement
• Monthly Phone and Internet Reimbursement
• Tuition Reimbursement and access to LinkedIn Learning
• Equity
• Commuter Benefits (if local to an office)
• Volunteering Paid Time Off

Compensation:

The US base salary range for this full-time position at the commencement of employment is listed below. Additionally, this role might be eligible for discretionary short-term and long-term incentives (bonus and equity). The final salary range is determined by job related experience, skills and location. The range displays our typical hiring range for new hire salaries in US locations only. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.