Laser Development Engineer

Job Description

and Responsibilities:

At Coherent Scotland we develop laser systems that help people. Our systems are deployed in a wide variety of markets including renewable energy, microelectronics, fundamental research, life sciences and medicine. Our aim is to make a positive impact on everybody’s life by providing customers with lasers with superior reliability and performance.

Coherent Scotland has grown strongly and consistently over the past ten years, even through times of global economic slowdown. We have a healthy product development pipeline which will enable this growth to continue in the future. This will generate a number of exciting opportunities for personal growth within the organization in the years to come.

Coherent Scotland is based at the West of Scotland Science Park in Glasgow and is a subsidiary of Coherent Inc., a global leader in the manufacture of laser products. We are housed in a purpose-built facility, with research and development, manufacturing and marketing all on one site. We have a range of projects running at different stages of the development cycle and we have recently moved into new purpose-built labs in a large extension to the factory. As we grow, we are seeking new talent making this a very exciting time to join the Coherent Scotland team.

We have a friendly business orientated environment, an on-site cafeteria and there is a good remuneration package including contributory pension scheme, subsidised private health care and free life assurance.

About the role

We have an immediate opening for a detail-oriented development engineer to become part of the R&D team responsible for the design of our cutting-edge laser systems. We are looking for a well-motivated self-starter who can take general instructions and seek out all the elements needed to complete the assigned tasks. You will have responsibility for achievement of both personal and team-based goals delivering project focused outputs. You will be able to adapt quickly to changing requirements and understand critical needs and prioritise tasks and workload. You will have access to a local and worldwide talent pool with expertise in fundamentals like optical fibre design, and processing or laser crystal growth through to world class manufacturing expertise and collaborations are encouraged. You will work within a team where guidance and training will be provided. You will typically work with a product development through the entire product lifecycle from feasibility experiments through to production transfer and will have exposure to all aspects of the business in this journey.

Responsibilities will include:

Conducting technical feasibility studies in the design ultrashort pulse fibre lasers and their use in laser systems.

Building, assessing and qualifying prototypes based on these feasibility studies.

Troubleshooting laser performance issues.

Providing detailed and technically thorough reports/presentations to the engineering team.

Providing technical support to the laser manufacturing teams.

Working within a multi-disciplined engineering team to design laser systems.

Collaborating with local and international experts

Defining specifications and sourcing of laser parts and components

Education and Work Experience:

PhD or equivalent in a solid state or fibre laser-based area or demonstrable experience in a laser manufacturing or development environment.

In depth understanding of the principles of optics and lasers, and in particular a knowledge of ultrashort laser pulses, mode-locking techniques, optical nonlinearities and dispersion is desirable.

Ideally demonstrable practical ability in the creation of breadboard laser systems.

Ideally experienced in taking a product through some part of the engineering life cycle from feasibility to production.

Experienced in the use of test equipment, both optical (power meters, spectrometers, auto-correlators, etc.) and electrical (oscilloscopes, signal generators, spectrum analysers, etc.).

Proficiency in LabVIEW for data acquisition and instrument control would be an advantage.

Ideally experienced in the use of optical modelling software packages (for example Zemax) and/or the development of optical models via custom code.

General understanding of electronics and control systems.

Good communication skills.

Ability to work on multiple tasks and manage priorities.

Ability to work from general instructions for new assignments either in isolation or as part of a wider team.

Occasional travel will be required.