Who We Are

Aurelius Systems is a VC backed defense tech startup building autonomous, edge deployed directed energy systems for counter-UAS. We build laser weapons to shoot down drones.

We're a small team of engineers, former US military operators, and subject matter experts scaling America's directed energy dominance. The first cost effective, reliable and robust laser weapon system.

Our namesake isn't an accident. Marcus Aurelius wrote about doing the work in front of you, every day, without excuses. Henry Ford didn't wait for permission to reinvent manufacturing. That's how we operate — small team, unreasonable output, no hiding behind the unachievable.

In addition to our San Francisco lab, we’ve opened a Detroit manufacturing hub and we field test weekly on our own 400-acre private range.

The Role & Your Impact

You will own optical system design and help drive critical optical investigations for our hardware platform.

This role is centered on optical expertise first. We are looking for someone who can bring deep experience in optical theory, optical design, and system-level problem solving. You should be able to evaluate tradeoffs, identify better technical paths, and raise the quality of optical decision-making across the team. Mechanical integration matters, but this role is primarily about strong optical judgment rather than owning every mechanical detail yourself.

You will work closely with mechanical and electrical teammates to turn optical designs into robust deployed systems. This is a senior role for someone who can walk into a design review and bring perspectives and strategies the team has not already considered.

What You'll Own

Lead optical design and analysis for core system components

Drive optical investigations, trade studies, and system-level design decisions

Specify and evaluate optical components and subsystem architectures

Partner with mechanical engineers on packaging, housing, and integration decisions

Support tolerance analysis, performance validation, and design iteration

Lead or guide alignment, characterization, and test efforts for integrated optical systems

Work with vendors and fabricators on manufacturability, tolerancing, and component feasibility

Help establish best practices for optical development, validation, and technical documentation

What We're Looking For

Strong background in optical engineering, optical design, or related physics-based system work

Deep understanding of optical theory and the ability to apply it to real hardware problems

Experience designing, analyzing, and debugging optical systems in practice

Ability to lead technical investigations from first principles and prior experience

Enough mechanical fluency to collaborate effectively on packaging and integration, without needing to be a pure mechanical owner

Strong hands-on engineering judgment and comfort working across disciplines

Senior-level experience that allows you to guide technical choices with confidence

We want to talk if: If you have experience with alignment and characterization of precise optical systems operating in the real world

Education

BS or MS in Optical Engineering, Physics, Mechanical Engineering, or related field.

What you've built matters more than where you went to school.

How You Operate

Extreme bias for action. You'd rather build a prototype tomorrow than model it for a month

Rigorous testing mindset. You characterize your own systems before the field does

Comfortable with ambiguity and fast, constantly iterating in a startup environment

Your brain only releases dopamine when you're building

You debug from first principles, not Stack Overflow

Clear communicator across mechanical, electrical, optical, and software teams

Self-directed. You identify what needs to happen next and do it without being told

Why Join Aurelius Systems?

Build more in 1 month than most engineers build in 1 year. We field test weekly. Your work goes downrange, not into a filing cabinet.

Career velocity is real. Erick Brito went from Founding Robotics Engineer to Lead in 12 months. At ~10 engineers, there are no layers between you and impact… or between you and your next title.