Careers

We are Hiring!

Polaris Sensor Technologies, Inc. has established an international reputation by employing a collaborative team of creative individuals to develop novel optical systems. We continually seek various skill sets to support and manage the development of optical systems for commercial and military needs. We are expanding our research interests and developing our commercial applications. If you are looking for opportunities to help develop technology cradle to grave, including hardware, software, and optics, please apply below.

Our multi-disciplinary teams support customers from concept, design, integration, prototyping, and build to software development, algorithm development, field testing, and data analysis. Our culture of innovation and teamwork provides a dynamic and collaborative environment where motivated individuals can find a variety of projects in which to participate.

Polaris is a woman-owned, small business located in downtown Huntsville, Alabama. This area is in a highly walkable urban setting, centered in the heart of a research and development environment. For most of the open positions, the employment location is in our Huntsville office, and a generous benefits package is offered.

More about Huntsville

Candidates must be U.S. citizens and must be able to obtain a security clearance upon demonstrated need.

Open Positions

Aero-Optics Eng for Instrumentation Aero-Optics Eng for Analysis AI / ML Engineer Mechanical Engineer Optical Engineer Optical Lab Tech Optical Mod & Sim Optical Test Eng Senior Opt Eng UI SW Engineer

Aero-Optics Engineer

Polaris Sensor Technologies is seeking an Aero-Optics Engineer to support multiple efforts in developing optical instrumentation for integration into hypersonic wind tunnel test facilities. While direct experience with aero-optics instrumentation, wind tunnel testing, or data analysis and modeling would be a plus, we are seeking self-motivated candidates with experience and capability in the areas listed below. This position may involve significant hands-on laboratory work. This position involves interaction with team members and requires experience with optical analysis, including a solid physical optics as well as geometrical optics understanding. Applicants should be confident in laboratory skills involving optical systems integration, assembly, setup, calibration, and operation. A successful applicant is able to work well in teams, is eager to learn, and is able to clearly communicate and document their work.

This position is full-time (40 hours per week) in Huntsville, Alabama. Salary is commensurate with applicant’s qualifications and experience. Polaris offers a competitive benefits package including health insurance and 401k.

Candidates must be U.S. citizens and must be able to obtain a security clearance upon demonstrated need.

Responsibilities

  • Design, construct, and test optical systems intended to measure aero-optics, optical window effects, and physical optics effects
  • Collect and analyze data from the above mentioned systems
  • Use software tools to design, evaluate, and modify imaging systems
  • Use laboratory measurement tools and systems
  • Support testing activities at hypersonic wind tunnel facilities
  • Troubleshoot and resolve technical issues independently
  • Develop comprehensive and detailed reports

Qualifications

Required

  • Strong communication skills, both oral and written
  • Disciplined approach to laboratory work with strong attention to detail
  • Good organizational skills
  • Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in Optical Science, Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical area
  • 5 years minimum demonstrated experience in a technical field

Preferred

  • Optical Design (Zemax)
  • Mechanical Design
  • Hardware Systems Assembly
  • Planning and/or Performing Laboratory Tests
  • Systems Engineering

Aero-Optics Engineer

Polaris Sensor Technologies is seeking an Aero-Optics Engineer to support multiple efforts in analyzing aero-optical effects in hypersonic environments. We are seeking self-motivated candidates with experience and capability in the areas listed below. This position involves interaction with team members and requires experience with optical analysis, including a solid physical optics as well as geometrical optics understanding. A successful applicant is eager to learn and is able to clearly communicate and document their work.

This position is full-time (40 hours per week) in Huntsville, Alabama. Salary is commensurate with applicant’s qualifications and experience. Polaris offers a competitive benefits package including health insurance and 401k.

Candidates must be U.S. citizens and must be able to obtain a security clearance upon demonstrated need.

Responsibilities

  • Use software M&S tools to predict and analyze aero-optical effects
  • Support aero-optical test planning activities at wind tunnel facilities
  • Analyze data from custom as well as commercial instrumentation installed at wind tunnel facilities
  • Troubleshoot and resolve technical issues independently
  • Develop comprehensive and detailed reports

Qualifications

Required

  • Strong communication skills, both oral and written
  • Disciplined approach to laboratory work with strong attention to detail
  • Good organizational skills
  • Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in Optical Science, Optical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical area
  • 3-8 years demonstrated experience in a technical field

Preferred

  • Fourier optics optical design software (Zemax)
  • Planning and/or performing optical laboratory tests

AI/ML Image Processing Engineer

Polaris Sensor Technologies is seeking an experienced and knowledgeable engineer or scientist for adding Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) to our state-of-the-art optical systems. Taking the image output of our novel sensor systems, a successful applicant will enhance performance of image processing, object detection, image quality improvement, automated analysis, image segmentation, and exploitation through the use of AI/ML algorithms and approaches. The engineer should have the initiative and creativity to find innovative solutions and multitask among projects. Candidates should possess experience with supervised and unsupervised approaches such as YOLO, CNN, clustering (k-nearest neighbor, DBSCAN, Dirichlet, etc.), autocorrelations, and deep learning methods (DNNs, CNNs, RNNs, LSTMs, etc.).

This position is full-time (40 hours per week) in Huntsville, Alabama. Salary is commensurate with applicant’s qualifications and experience. Polaris offers a competitive benefits package including health insurance and 401k.

Candidates must be U.S. citizens and must be able to obtain a security clearance upon demonstrated need.

Responsibilities

  • Work with scientists and engineers during and after field tests to collect optimal data sets and perform analysis
  • Develop and utilize AI/ML algorithms that exploit Polaris’s sensor technologies for a variety of applications
  • Algorithm development, GPU acceleration, global and local optimization of complex and fused data, adversarial ML, network architecture and computability
  • Fully mature algorithms for integration into Polaris’s technologies including development from concept to product
  • Collaborate with electrical, optical, and mechanical engineering counterparts for systems level solutions

Qualifications

Required

  • Bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Optical Science, Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical area.
  • Experience in image processing and data analysis
  • Experience in AI/ML
  • Windows and Linux programming in C++
  • MATLAB or Python

Preferred

  • Real-time processing
  • Software/hardware interface and control

Mechanical Engineer

Polaris Sensor Technologies is seeking a motivated Mechanical Engineer to join our team. This role will support the development and testing of optical instrumentation for integration into hypersonic wind tunnel test facilities. Applicants should be confident in a range of laboratory, data analysis, and design skills rooted in fundamentals of mechanical engineering and physical optics. A successful applicant is eager to learn, works well in teams, and able to communicate and document their work. 

This position is full-time (40 hours per week) in Huntsville, Alabama. Salary is commensurate with applicant’s qualifications and experience. Polaris offers a competitive benefits package including health insurance and 401k.

Candidates must be U.S. citizens and must be able to obtain a security clearance upon demonstrated need.

Responsibilities

  • Design and test optical system hardware
  • Use laboratory measurement tools such as interferometers, autocollimators, and lasers to perform system calibration and alignment
  • Use software tools to perform data analysis and evaluate results from system testing
  • Collaborate with electrical engineers, software engineers, and physicists to accomplish program goals
  • Support testing activities for hypersonic wind tunnels
  • Troubleshoot and resolve technical problems independently

Qualifications

Required

  • Strong communication skills, both oral and written
  • Bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution in Mechanical Engineering, Optical Science, Optical Engineering, Physics, or related technical area
  • Attention to detail and organization

Preferred

  • CAD proficiency (Solidworks preferred)
  • Optical design experience (Zemax)
  • Hardware system assembly
  • Scripting experience (Python, MATLAB, or similar)
  • Experience performing laboratory tests

Optical Engineer

Polaris Sensor Technologies is seeking a self-motivated Optical Engineer to build and perform integration and evaluation of electro-optical sensor systems. This position involved significant hands-on laboratory work and interaction with team members during sensor development. Applicants should be confident in laboratory skills involving optical systems integration, assembly, setup, calibration, and operation. A successful applicant is able to work well in teams, is eager to learn, and is able to clearly communicate and document their work. 

This position is full-time (40 hours per week) in Huntsville, Alabama. Salary is commensurate with applicant’s qualifications and experience. Polaris offers a competitive benefits package including health insurance and 401k.

Candidates must be U.S. citizens and must be able to obtain a security clearance upon demonstrated need.

Responsibilities

  • Collect and analyze data from electro-optical systems
  • Use software tools to evaluate imaging systems (i.e. Python, MATLAB, etc.)
  • Use laboratory measurement tools and systems (e.g. interferometers, spectrometers, cameras, etc.)
  • Troubleshoot and resolve technical issues independently
  • Develop, implement, oversee, and participate in basic data collection and/or testing procedures
  • Develop comprehensive and detailed reports

Qualifications

Required

  • Strong communication skills, both oral and written
  • Disciplined approach to laboratory work with strong attention to detail
  • Good organizational skills
  • Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in Optical Science, Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical area
  • 3 years minimum demonstrated experience in a technical field

Preferred

  • Optical design like ZEMAX and FRED
  • Mechanical design
  • Hardware systems assembly
  • Planning and/or performing laboratory tests
  • Systems engineering

Optical Laboratory Technician

Polaris is seeking an Optical Technician to support our growing team in Huntsville, Alabama. The position includes work involving electro-optics, lasers, and sensors ranging from the visible to long-wave infrared in the laboratory and field test environments.

This position is full-time (40 hours per week) in Huntsville, Alabama. Salary is commensurate with applicant’s qualifications and experience. Polaris offers a competitive benefits package including health insurance and 401k.

Candidates must be U.S. citizens and must be able to obtain a security clearance upon demonstrated need.

Responsibilities

  • Integrate electro-optic and IR (EO/IR) optical system hardware. Install, manage, and run data acquisition and calibration software for system operation
  • Determine the performance, capabilities, limitations, and problems associated with optical and electro-optical sensors; new and emerging optical, metrology, polarization, and infrared technologies systems
  • Develop and execute system calibration procedures for EO/IR systems in laboratory and field settings
  • Develop and implement field tests through planning, execution, and reporting
  • Operate various pieces of test and support equipment to include power supplies, multimeters, video cameras, and data acquisition systems used in testing military weapon systems
  • Take ownership and support optical testing in lab and field environments
  • Support equipment inventory and maintenance

Qualifications

  • 5-10 years of experience. Prefer previous experience in a lab and field environment researching and/or testing different military weapons systems, optical, and sensor types
  • Willing and able to work outdoors
  • Both mechanically as well as electrically inclined
  • Possess computer skills such as Microsoft Office

Optical Modeling & Simulation Engineer

Polaris Sensor Technologies is seeking a self-motivated engineer with skills in modeling and simulation, image processing, and data analysis to help us better understand aero-optical effects at hypersonic velocities. A successful applicant is able to work well in teams, is eager to learn, and is able to clearly communicate and document their work.

This position is full-time (40 hours per week) in Huntsville, Alabama. Salary is commensurate with applicant’s qualifications and experience. Polaris offers a competitive benefits package including health insurance and 401k.

Candidates must be U.S. citizens and must be able to obtain a security clearance upon demonstrated need.

Responsibilities

  • Model and simulate physical phenomena in optical systems
  • Use software tools to evaluate imaging systems, preferably MATLAB and Zemax
  • Perform data analysis on imagery to understand the impact of physical phenomena
  • Develop image processing algorithms for and analyze data from electro-optical systems
  • Document work and write detailed reports

Qualifications

  • Strong communication skills, both oral and written
  • Knowledge of physical optics, geometrical optics, Fourier optics, and image and signal processing
  • Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in Optical Science, Optical Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, or a related technical area
  • 5 years minimum demonstrated experience in a technical field

Optical Test Engineer

Polaris is seeking an Optical Test engineer to support our growing team in Huntsville, Alabama. The position will include work involving electro-optics, lasers, and sensors ranging from the visible to long-wave infrared in the laboratory and in field test environments.

This position is full-time (40 hours per week) in Huntsville, Alabama. Salary is commensurate with applicant’s qualifications and experience. Polaris offers a competitive benefits package including health insurance and 401k.

Candidates must be U.S. citizens and must be able to obtain a security clearance upon demonstrated need.

Responsibilities

  • Integrate electro-optic and IR (EO/IR) optical system hardware. Install, manage, and run data acquisition and calibration software for system operation
  • Determine the performance, capabilities, limitations, and problems associated with optical and electro-optical sensors; new and emerging optical, metrology, polarization, and infrared technologies systems
  • Develop and execute system calibration procedures for EO/IR systems in laboratory and field settings
  • Develop and implement field tests through planning, execution, and reporting
  • Operate various pieces of test and support equipment to include power supplies, multimeters, video cameras, and data acquisition systems used in testing military weapon systems
  • Take ownership and support optical testing in lab and field environments
  • Support equipment inventory and maintenance

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Optics, Physics, or related field and 2 years of experience. Prefer previous experience in a lab and field environment researching and/or testing different military weapons systems, optical, and sensor types
  • Willing and able to work outdoors
  • Both mechanically as well as electrically inclined
  • Possess computer skills: Microsoft Office, Programming such as MATLAB or Python

Senior Optical Engineer

Polaris Sensor Technologies is seeking a self-motivated Senior Optical Engineer to conceive, develop, build, test, integrate, and perform evaluation of resulting electro-optical sensor systems. This position involves significant hands-on laboratory work, modeling and simulation, and directing team members during sensor development. Applicants should be confident in laboratory skills involving optical systems integration, assembly, setup, calibration, and operation. A successful applicant is able to work well in teams, is eager to learn, and is able to clearly communicate and document their work. Strong inter-personal skills are required.

This position is full-time (40 hours per week) in Huntsville, Alabama. Salary is commensurate with applicant’s qualifications and experience. Polaris offers a competitive benefits package including health insurance and 401k.

Candidates must be U.S. citizens and must be able to obtain a security clearance upon demonstrated need.

Responsibilities

  • Understand and develop requirements-based system concepts
  • Thorough understanding of physical and geometrical optics, Fourier optics, and wavefront aberration theory
  • Construct and test electro-optical systems
  • Collect and analyze data from electro-optical systems
  • Use software tools to evaluate imaging systems (i.e., Python, MATLAB, Mathematica, etc.)
  • Use laboratory measurement tools and systems (interferometers, spectrometers, cameras, etc.)
  • Troubleshoot and resolve technical issues independently
  • Develop, implement, oversee, and participate in basic data collection and/or testing procedures
  • Develop comprehensive and detailed reports and interact with the customer

Qualifications

Required

  • Strong communication skills, both oral and written
  • Disciplined approach to laboratory work with strong attention to detail
  • Good organizational skills
  • Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in Optical Science, Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical area
  • 12 years minimum demonstrated experience in a technical field

Preferred

  • Post-graduate degree
  • Project lead experience
  • Experience in optical design (i.e., ZEMAX, FRED, etc.)
  • Experience in mechanical design
  • Experience in hardware systems assembly
  • Experience planning and/or performing laboratory tests
  • Systems engineering experience

User Interface Software Engineer

Polaris Sensor Technologies is seeking a Software Engineer to play an integral role in the evolution of our software products through development of modern user interfaces. The new UI framework is intended to support a variety of optical sensors that stream video and produce numerical data used in analytical testing scenarios. The engineer will work to implement new user interface frameworks using MVVM methodology to display streaming video from optical sensors, provide sensor configuration interface components, and create innovative data visualization controls for processed numerical data.

This position is full-time (40 hours per week) in Huntsville, Alabama. Salary is commensurate with applicant’s qualifications and experience. Polaris offers a competitive benefits package including health insurance and 401k.

Candidates must be U.S. citizens and must be able to obtain a security clearance upon demonstrated need.

Responsibilities

  • Collaborate with software engineering counterparts
  • Develop UI framework and interface guidelines for sensor software developers
  • Develop UI components to provide intuitive representation of numerical data for analysis
  • Maintain and enhance the UI framework and components to support future projects
  • Troubleshoot and resolve sensor software/user interface integration issues

Qualifications

Required

  • Strong communication skills, both oral and written
  • Experience developing Windows applications using WPF
  • Experience developing using MVVM UI frameworks such as Avalonia
  • Windows and Linux programming in C++ or C#

Preferred

  • Video display
  • Cross-platform development

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