Optical Engineer

Purpose and Impact The position is primarily focused on research, development, and assessment of optical sensor systems, processing schemes, and exploitation frameworks in support of U.S. Naval intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions and Command, Control, Computer, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) goals. This includes developing and evaluating the performance of processing algorithms (e.g., target detection and identification), determining requirements, and demonstrating real‑time sensor operation, on‑board data processing, and exploitation techniques for ISR sensor systems.

The role involves generation, documentation, and communication of research results related to sensor and target detection system performance analyses; mathematical and computer modeling and simulation; development and operation of electro‑optic, infrared, hyperspectral and other multi‑INT sensor and processing systems; and the design and development of automated decision‑making algorithms for mapping sensor observations to actions—overall goals are to strengthen the Naval Research Enterprise and support Navy imperatives through transition of scientific and technical advances into deployed systems and platforms. Work Schedule 9‑5 Essential Responsibilities The incumbent carries out technical management, reporting, design, development, analysis, installation, and operation of sensor systems, processing algorithms, and related computer hardware and software in coordination with the DoD, academia, and other industry partners. Responsibilities include development and analysis of spectral target detection and classification approaches, geo‑registration schemes, sensor noise and uncertainty quantification models, atmospheric/environmental models, and lidar/radar systems and processing techniques.

Additional duties cover design, development, and analysis of machine learning and computer vision models supporting pattern recognition within unstructured data ensembles; automated target detection, localization, classification, segmentation, and tracking within 2D (e.g., infrared) and 3D (e.g., hyperspectral) images and video sequences; synthetic image generation; unsupervised anomaly detection; and computational image enhancement and reconstruction (e.g., de‑noising, super‑resolution, and sparse recovery). The incumbent must be knowledgeable in data science, computational methods, and machine learning with experience in numerical methods for the solution of inverse problems (e.g., regularized optimization frameworks), computer vision and image processing schemes, and deep learning architectures and approaches (e.g., CNNs, RNNs, GANs, autoencoders, transformers). Coding experience and proficiency in advanced technical software languages (e.g., C/C++, MATLAB, SQL, Python) and modern deep learning frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, Keras) is required.

The incumbent supports execution of technical programs, interfaces with technology experts, and generates documentation of research results as needed. Work Environment, Physical Demands, and Mental Demands Work environment is primarily desk‑and computer‑oriented with no heavy lifting or strong mental demands. Minimum Requirements Ability to conceive, design, model, simulate, test, and analyze signal processing techniques for optical and active sensing systems in support of Navy surveillance, reconnaissance, and remote sensing missions and requirements.

Knowledge of mathematical techniques, numerical methods, and algorithms relevant to signal processing and computer vision such as multi‑instance segmentation and tracking, regularized optimization frameworks for image recovery, generative adversarial networks for image synthesis, and deep learning architectures and training frameworks for processing sequential data and images. Ability to conceive and develop both offline and online real‑time algorithms for signal processing and machine learning‑based exploitation of multi‑INT imaging sensors (e.g., panchromatic and hyperspectral) in the visible and infrared wavebands, including algorithms that inform decision making. Knowledge of advanced mathematics, numerical methods, scientific programming languages (e.g., C/C++, Python, MATLAB), and deep learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, Keras).

Ability to communicate orally. Ability to communicate in writing. Minimum Education PhD Minimum Years of Experience 1-2 Preferred Qualifications Experience with OpenCV, Pandas, NumPy, SLURM, Git, Jupyter, LaTeX, and Linux.

Compensation Details $123,000 Benefits Overview Health, dental, and vision insurance Paid time off and holidays Retirement benefits (including 401(k) matching) Educational reimbursement Parental leave Employee stock purchase plan Tax‑saving options Disability and life insurance Pet insurance Note: Benefits may vary based on employment type, location, and applicable agreements. Positions governed by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the McNamara‑O'Hara Service Contract Act (SCA), or other employment contracts may include different provisions/benefits. Original Posting 04/02/2026 - Until Filled Amentum anticipates this job requisition will remain open for at least three days, with a closing date no earlier than three days after the original posting.

This timeline may change based on business needs. Equal Opportunity Employer Amentum is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our hiring practices provide equal opportunity for employment without regard to race, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding), age, ancestry, United States military or veteran status, color, religion, creed, marital or domestic partner status, medical condition, genetic information, national origin, citizenship status, low‑income status, or mental or physical disability so long as the essential functions of the job can be performed with or without reasonable accommodation, or any other protected category under federal, state, or local law.

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