Director of Optics
Santa Monica · Denver · 5+ years experience · Full-time · Onsite · Posted Oct 5, 2026
At a glance
- Experience
- 5+ years experience
- Employment
- Full-time
- Workplace
- Onsite
- Location
- Santa Monica · Denver
About the role
- Red 6 is seeking a technically deep, execution-oriented Director of Optics to lead the Optics Department and scale the optical engineering function across current and next-generation augmented reality systems.
- This is a senior leadership role focused on optics strategy, organization design, program execution, design review discipline, supplier escalation, metrology standards, and cross-functional delivery.
Responsibilities
- Lead, mentor, and grow the Optics Department across multiple sites, including Principal and Senior Optical Engineers, optical technicians, and metrology specialists.
- Define and own the optics technology roadmap, aligning near-term program deliverables with long-term capability building and future optical architectures.
- Create role clarity, decision rights, and an org structure that preserves focus as programs multiply and the company scales.
- Drive recruiting efforts to attract elite optical talent in a competitive market while maintaining a high hiring bar and strong retention outcomes.
- Build structured growth plans for team members, deliberately developing future technical leaders and people managers from within the optics organization.
- Maintain culture consistency across sites by leading with accountability, empathy, transparency, and genuine investment in each person's development.
- Provide technical oversight and design review for ultra-wide field-of-view AR headset optics, freeform combiners, waveguides, HOE/PVH elements, display/backlight integration, eye-tracking optical paths, and future optical architectures.
- Guide trade studies across field of view, brightness, contrast, eyebox, MTF, distortion, pupil swim, color uniformity, environmental stability, manufacturability, cost, and schedule risk.
- Establish technical standards for optical tolerancing, image quality, stray light, radiometry, photometry, color science, display performance, calibration repeatability, and headset-level optical metrology.
- Own the optical program lifecycle from requirements definition through prototype validation, production transition, fielding, and continuous improvement feedback loops.
Requirements
- M.S., Ph.D., or equivalent industry experience in Optical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, or a closely related technical field.
- 12+ years of progressive experience developing complex optical systems, with significant experience in near-eye displays, AR/VR, HMDs, imaging systems, projection systems, aerospace/defense optics, or other high-performance optical hardware.
- 5+ years leading optical engineers, technical leads, technicians, metrology personnel, or cross-functional hardware teams.
- Demonstrated ability to take optical systems from concept through prototype, validation, production transition, customer integration, and continuous improvement.
- Strong technical credibility in optical architecture, optical tolerancing, metrology, image quality, MTF, distortion, stray light, radiometry, photometry, display performance, or headset characterization.
- Practical experience reviewing or guiding work in optical design and analysis tools such as Code V, Zemax OpticStudio, Python, MATLAB, FRED, LightTools, JMP, or equivalent engineering toolchains.
- Experience building scalable engineering processes, including design reviews, stage gates, documentation standards, test plans, issue tracking, supplier review, manufacturing feedback loops, and decision records.
- Proven ability to partner with Product, Manufacturing, Software, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Supply Chain, Program Management, and external suppliers.
- Strong executive communication skills, including the ability to explain optical trade-offs, risks, and roadmap decisions to non-optical stakeholders.
- U.S. citizenship required; must be eligible for and willing to obtain a security clearance.
Preferred qualifications
- Experience with ultra-wide-FOV AR systems, freeform combiners, waveguides, holographic optical elements, polarization volume holograms, holographic backlights, or laser/display illumination architectures.
- Experience with LCoS, MicroLED, DMD, laser backlights, polarization optics, display color calibration, color uniformity, or human visual system modeling.
- Hands-on background with optical metrology platforms such as interferometry, MTF measurement, distortion mapping, radiometry, photometry, calibration pipelines, and headset characterization.
- Experience with optical manufacturing methods such as diamond turning, injection molding, thin-film coatings, holographic recording, first-article inspection, incoming inspection, SPC, and yield improvement.
- Experience with eye-tracking optics, including illumination architecture, pupil imaging, pupil replication, and integration with gaze estimation pipelines.
- Experience in defense, aerospace, military training systems, SBIR/STTR environments, or venture-backed hardware companies.
- Experience building distributed teams across multiple locations while maintaining culture, execution discipline, and technical standards.
Benefits
- Healthcare, Dental, and Vision (100% coverage for Employees)
- Paid time off, including vacation, sick, paid holidays, and parental leave
- Short and Long-Term Disability
- Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
- 401(k) Retirement Plan
- Voluntary Worksite Benefits (Accident, Critical Illness, and Hospital Indemnity)
- Discretionary annual bonus based on individual and company performance, subject to plan terms
Skills
- Code V
- Zemax OpticStudio
- Python
- MATLAB
- FRED
- LightTools
- JMP
