Optical Sensing Engineer

Our mission at Oura is to empower every person to own their inner potential. Our award-winning products help our global community gain a deeper knowledge of their readiness, activity, and sleep quality by using their Oura Ring and its connected app. We've helped over a million people understand and improve their health by providing daily insights and practical steps to inspire healthy lifestyles.

Empowering the world starts with living  and empowering our team. As a quickly growing company focused on helping people live healthier and happier lives, we ensure that our team members have what they need to do their best work — both in and out of the office.

We are looking for a Optical Sensing Engineer to join our hardware team working on future wearables and accessory devices reporting directly to the Director, Hardware Sensing Technologies.  This opportunity will be hybrid out of our San Diego or San Francisco office.

What You’ll Do

• Design and development of optical systems for physiological sensing in wearable health and wellness products
• Perform detailed optical simulations to guide emitter-detector design, placement, and light-path optimization within compact, body-worn devices
• Develop optical architectures that balance signal quality, power efficiency, and mechanical integration
• Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, and firmware teams to ensure robust signal acquisition across diverse usage and environmental conditions
• Design and execute test protocols to evaluate system performance across various skin types, motion conditions, and lighting environments
• Partner with data science and signal processing teams to support feature development and improve signal robustness
• Interface with component vendors to assess and qualify optical emitters, detectors, filters, and mechanical elements for integration

Travel occasionally to Finland and to international manufacturing sites as needed (15%–20%) 

We would love to have you on our team, if you have:

Technical Expertise

• Deep understanding of optical sensing principles and light-tissue interaction for wearable physiological monitoring
• Strong experience with optical modeling and simulation tools (e.g., Speos, Zemax, LightTools, TracePro, COMSOL, or custom Monte Carlo simulations)
• Familiarity with emitter-detector design tradeoffs including wavelength selection, viewing angles, ambient light rejection, and drive current tuning
• Experience designing systems for robustness against motion artifacts, signal loss, and skin-tone variability
• Skilled in data analysis tools (Python, MATLAB, etc.) for signal evaluation and validation
• Hands-on experience with optical prototyping and test equipment: photodiodes, LEDs, filters, integrating spheres, power meters, etc.

Problem Solving and Analytical Thinking

• Ability to work through ambiguity and iterate on novel optical designs using a data-driven approach
• Experience debugging complex signal interactions between optics, physiology, motion, and system-level constraints
• Strong experimental design and root cause analysis skills

Communication and Collaboration

• Effective communicator across disciplines including electrical, mechanical, firmware, and product teams
• Comfortable contributing to documentation, planning, and milestone tracking
• Able to present technical tradeoffs clearly to technical and non-technical audiences

Educational Background

• Bachelor’s degree in Physics, Optical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field with 7+ years of industry experience
• Master’s degree with 5+ years, or PhD with 2+ years of experience

Prototyping and Testing

• Hands-on experience designing, building, and characterizing optical sensing systems in lab environments
• Skilled in measurement techniques for SNR, spectral response, ambient interference, and motion tolerance

Bonus Points:

• Experience developing optical sensing systems for wearable or health-oriented consumer products
• Familiarity with light-based physiological sensing techniques such as reflectance- or transmission-mode measurements
• Knowledge of low-power optical system design and integration into thermally constrained environments
• Experience supporting optical features through the full product lifecycle, from simulation and prototyping to manufacturing and field validation
• Exposure to relevant regulatory or safety standards for optical or consumer health devices

At Oura, we care about you and your well-being. Everyone here at Oura has a ring of their own and we are continually looking to improve employee health.

What we offer:

• Competitive salary and equity packages
• Health, dental, vision insurance, and mental health resources
• An Oura Ring of your own plus employee discounts for friends & family
• 20 days of paid time off plus 13 paid holidays plus 8 days of flexible wellness time off
• Paid sick leave and parental leave

Oura takes a market-based approach to pay, which may vary depending on your location. US locations are categorized into tiers based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. While most offers will be closer to the starting range, successful candidates' pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, internal peer equity, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future.

• Region 1 Range (SF): $142,000 - $228,000
• Region 2 Range (SD): $130,000 - $211,000

A recruiter can determine your zones/tiers based on your US location.

We are not considering candidates residing in the following states: Alaska (AK), Delaware (DE), Iowa (IA), Mississippi (MS), Missouri (MO), Nebraska (NE), Oklahoma (OK), Rhode Island (RI), South Dakota (SD), Vermont (VT), West Virginia (WV), and Wisconsin (WI)

Oura is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Individuals seeking employment at Oura are considered without regard to age, ancestry, color, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, mental or physical disability, national origin, protected family care or medical leave status, race, religion (including beliefs and practices or the absence thereof), sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. We will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics.

We will work to ensure individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.

Disclaimer: Beware of fake job offers!
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• Our jobs are listed only on the ŌURA Careers page and trusted job boards.
• We will never ask for personal information like ID or payment for equipment upfront.
• Official offers are sent through Docusign after a verbal offer, not via text or email.

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