Principal Optical Scientist / Engineer

About the job

Job title: Principal Optical Scientist

Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Company: QinetiQ

About the Role:

An exciting opportunity has arisen to lead the development of new optical based products within QinetiQ. The role is for a Principal Optical Systems Scientist / Engineer to join a leading Global Defence Technology & Security organisation. You will work within the Physical Sciences discipline based at their site in Malvern, Worcestershire, and you will lead a team developing new laser based sensor and communications products. Taking an existing portfolio of R&D projects and concepts, you will lead the development of a technology roadmap to develop these technologies into successful products. You will work closely with customers, business development professionals, and lead a multi-disciplinary teams developing and delivering a roadmap and project portfolio.

What will I be doing?

You will lead the Laser and Optics Sensors team within the Physical Sciences discipline working in the UK Intelligence sector. Through your experience of the design, development and implementation of optical systems, you will be actively involved in developing laser-based sensors for use in QinetiQ products, research projects and development of bespoke solutions for novel applications across the breadth of QinetiQ's business.

• Lead the delivery of product, development and research programmes.
• Lead and manage a roadmap for key optical product offerings
• Identify and develop business opportunities with the team and independently.
• Develop programmes of work (plan effort and materials requirements and identify dependencies) and work with project managers to convert to costed project plans.
• Write technical content of proposals/bids/white papers.
• Challenge, mentor and grow team members from multiple disciplines
• Show strong initiative, self-motivation and be able to work as part of and lead a team of scientists and engineers.

Desirable Experience:

• Bidding for projects with scientific and technical customers.
• Technical team leadership.
• Practical delivery of products/projects through the system engineering lifecycle
• Optical and Laser based remote sensing
• An optical detection technique (e.g. direct detection, coherent detection, photon counting).
• An understanding of physical and engineering principles as they relate to optical comms (free-space and in-fibre).
• Familiarity with LIDAR
• Designing and building telecoms component-based fibre optics systems.
• Designing and building bulk-optics systems.
• Implementing different active optical remote sensing modalities (e.g. rangefinding, 3D imaging, velocimetry, vibrometry, anemometry, DIAL, comms, retro-comms).
• Scanning techniques for imaging applications.

Please note that all applicants must be eligible for SC clearance as a minimum.