Business Title:                    Senior Optical Engineer

Reports to:                          Engineering Manager

Leadership Scope:              Individual Contributor

Company Info:               With a heritage of nearly 120 years, we aren’t just a company; we are a brand of trust.  But more than anything, we are a collection of individuals who, together, give Grote Industries a decisive competitive advantage. At Grote, our shared vision is clear – to meet the needs of the customers we serve. We accomplish that mission every day by following a set of core values that makes us who we are.

                                    Innovation has been the hallmark of Grote Industries from the start. From durable, easy to see stop lights to the latest in LED lighting technology, Grote has been leading the way in advanced vehicle system solutions from early in the last century right up to today. With these innovations, Grote has helped millions of people throughout North America and the world benefit from the innovation and design excellence of Grote products.

Position Summary:         The Senior Optical Engineer is responsible for the design, development, validation, and support of automotive exterior lighting systems for OEM customers in the heavy-duty market. This role leads optical design activities, supports cross-functional teams, and ensures products meet regulatory, customer, performance, durability, quality, manufacturing, and cost requirements while mentoring less-experienced engineers.

Position Duties:       

• Working with project team members to understand/develop requirements and to develop new or improved lamp concepts/designs satisfying regulatory and customer performance, durability, and quality requirements along with meeting internal manufacturing process requirements and cost targets.
• Developing the design of optical systems for lamps using LEDs, reflectors, thin plastic lenses with Fresnel/pillow/etc. optics, thick/TIR lenses, light pipes, etc. using LucidShape and other tools.
• Performing and/or coordinating testing of lamps and components using goniometers, integrating spheres, spectroradiometers, and related equipment to ensure the product meets all requirements.
• Developing/improving and documenting design, simulation, and testing standards related to all aspects of lamp optical design.
• Research, interpret, and apply relevant regulatory requirements and industry standards including FMVSS 108, UN Regulations (R148–R150), and SAE Lighting Systems Group standards.
• Working with the Manufacturing and Quality teams to troubleshoot and resolve issues related to manufacturing processes and quality controls.
• Working with the Purchasing team in the sourcing of purchased components and validation of suppliers and ensuring that purchased components are properly designed/spec’d to conform to industry standards, minimize cost, and maximize supply chain flexibility.
• Working with the Sales team in the quoting of new or revised business and customer management including the estimation of part and capital costs.
• Mentoring other engineers and team members in all aspects, and optical aspects in particular, of lamp quoting, design, manufacturing, validation, etc.

Requirements:               The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in Optical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field and extensive (3-5+ years) optical engineering design experience in automotive exterior lighting (headlamps and/or signal lamps) including familiarity with relevant mechanical and/or electrical engineering design principles, along with experience with the manufacturing processes relevant to automotive lighting and optical components in particular, such as injection molding, plastic part assembly, coatings, etc.  Good documentation, communication, and teamwork are essential.  Specific relevant skills/experience are listed below:

• Extensive experience with Lucid Shape and associated optical design modules/software is preferred followed by Zemax, SPEOs, or other optical design software
• Extensive experience designing optical systems using LEDs, molded lenses (including thick lenses), and molded/metallized reflectors for automotive lighting applications is preferred, though other optical design experience may be considered
• Extensive experience testing and validating optical systems/devices using goniometers, integrating spheres, spectroradiometers, etc.
• Injection molded plastic part design including a thorough understanding of injection mold tooling and plastic part assembly
• Creo CAD experience is optimal, followed by Catia or NX and then other systems
• Capability in the research, review, interpretation, and application of relevant regulatory requirements and industry standards, specifically in relation to FMVSS 108, UN Regulations (R148-R150), and the SAE Lighting Systems Group
• Advanced GD&T application
• Tolerance stack-up analysis
• Reviewing the listed simulations/analyses correlated with optical design:
  
  • Vibration/Static/Thermal FEA
  • Thermal CFD
  • Mold flow analysis
  • Part measurement and dimensional analysis