About this opportunity
Icehouseventures lists this Optics Engineer opportunity in san francisco, California. Review the employer’s description below for duties, qualifications and application requirements.
Job description
About Becoming
Becoming is building Developmental Intelligence: AI for predicting how organisms change over time.
Most experimental systems fail when metabolic demands become too high. We are building systems that don’t — by combining engineered metabolic environments, sensing, control, and software into tightly integrated products that operate reliably over long time horizons.
Hardware is core to our platform. It must work continuously, predictably, and under real biological constraints.
The Role
We are hiring an Optics Engineer to architect and own optical subsystems within Becoming’s integrated hardware platform.
This is a senior builder role. You will design stable, production‑grade optical systems that integrate tightly with mechanical structures, electronics, firmware, and data systems — and you will be accountable for their real‑world performance.
This is not a research imaging role. You will think in terms of alignment stability, signal integrity, manufacturability, and long‑duration runtime.
You will define specifications, make architecture decisions, and own outcomes.
What You’ll Own
End-to-end ownership of optical subsystems inside complex hardware platforms
Optical path architecture: illumination, detection, filtering, and signal optimization
Component selection with attention to stability, lifecycle, and manufacturability
Mechanical integration and alignment strategy under thermal and environmental constraints
Electrical integration of detectors and signal acquisition systems
Signal-to-noise optimization and drift mitigation
Calibration frameworks and long-term stability validation
Prototyping, stress testing, and failure analysis
Documentation and standards that enable scaling
Who You Are
You are someone who:
Operates with high agency — you identify problems, define solutions, and execute
Takes end-to-end ownership of what you build
Brings high energy to complex, ambiguous engineering challenges
Acts with high integrity — you are honest about tradeoffs, risks, and failure modes
Communicates directly and clearly, especially when something won’t work
Is self-aware about your strengths and gaps, and proactively fills them
Thinks like a systems integrator, not a narrow specialist
Cares deeply about understanding systems at a first-principles level
Have built optical systems that operated outside of controlled lab demos
Think in systems, not just ray traces
Understand how optical decisions impact mechanical tolerances and electrical noise
Surface limitations and risks clearly
Prefer robust architectures over fragile precision
Stay composed debugging signal degradation in live systems
Raise the technical bar around you
You take responsibility for whether the signal holds up over time — not just whether the design simulated correctly.
Strong Signals
Degree in optics, physics, electrical engineering, or equivalent demonstrated depth
Experience designing and shipping integrated optical systems
Strong first-principles understanding of optical design and detection physics
Experience integrating optics with mechanical and electrical platforms
Demonstrated ownership of systems operating under real-world constraints
Ability to operate without rigid process scaffolding or heavy vendor abstraction
Competitive salary and meaningful equity
Full benefits
High‑trust, high‑ownership environment
Rapid growth in scope and responsibility
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Worksite address
san francisco, CA, 94199, US
Who can apply
Review the original listing for work authorization, qualifications and employer requirements.