Applications Engineer - Polarization

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Full Time Chino, CA, US

Salary Range: $ To $ Annually

Compensation is commensurate with education, years of experience and relevant experience.

Luna Innovations Incorporated (Luna) is a global leader in fiber optic test and measurement and distributed sensing, trusted by aerospace manufacturers, defense contractors, research institutions, and commercial operators worldwide. We are a team of innovators who engineer, manufacture, and relentlessly pursue quality, driven by a shared commitment to exceeding our customers’ expectations.

Luna Innovations' Optical Communications Business Unit (OCT BU) develops and markets a portfolio of precision photonic instruments, polarization components, and OEM fiber optic solutions used in next-generation optical communications, sensing, and test & measurement applications. The Chino, CA facility is home to the polarization product lines, including polarization controllers, analyzers, and specialty fiber components.

This is a software-first Applications Engineer role, bringing deep automation and test software expertise to our polarization instrument product lines — building customer-ready measurement workflows, automated test sequences, and application software that accelerates adoption in our target markets. The ideal candidate is a strong programmer and systems thinker who is comfortable in a photonics environment; deep polarization domain knowledge is not required on day one and will be developed in partnership with the existing team.

This position sits within the Support & Application Engineering organization (OCT BU), complementing our senior polarization AE's deep optical expertise with software and automation capability.

Target application areas include:
Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) and Silicon Photonics test;
Optical WDM Component Test (AWGs, WSS);
Optical Coherent Transceiver and Module Test (400G/800G/1.6T);
Optical Component Test (fibers, coils, lasers, switches); and Quantum Technologies.

• Serve as the primary technical resource for customer application inquiries related to Chino polarization product lines
• Support sales team with pre-sales technical engagement, product demonstrations, and evaluation support
• Attend and represent Luna at industry trade shows and customer events (e.g., OFC, Photonics West)
• Manage and document customer interactions and application engineering requests through Salesforce CRM

Application Development

• Develop and demonstrate application setups that showcase Luna product capabilities in target markets
• Build and deliver customer-ready measurement automation scripts and test sequences (Python, LabVIEW) — enabling repeatable workflows and reducing customer time-to-result in production and test environments
• Identify emerging use cases and work with engineering to ensure new products address evolving customer needs
• Support OEM customers through product transitions, integration challenges, and qualification activities

Content & Knowledge Development

• Create and maintain application notes, technical presentations, and product training materials
• Develop demo scripts and evaluation guides to enable self-service and accelerate customer onboarding
• Contribute to internal knowledge base and best practices documentation

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with engineering to communicate field feedback, application requirements, and product issues
• Participate in OEM account tracking and escalation processes alongside Application Engineering team
• Contribute to instrument demo pool management and demo readiness

RIO Laser Products Support (Secondary, ~10–20%)

• Provide application engineering support for RIO Lasers' narrow linewidth laser diode and module product lines
• Support customer inquiries related to OEM laser integration, linewidth, phase noise, and system-level application questions

• Bachelor’s…