Optical Payload Architect for Space VHR Systems

Aerospacelab; Luik; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

AMOS, part of the Aerospacelab group in Liège, seeks an Optical Payload Architect to define the architecture of Very High Resolution optical payloads for Earth observation satellites. You will be the technical authority on opto-mechanical design, overseeing mounts, materials and thermal aspects within a multidisciplinary payload team.

You translate mission requirements into architecture, balance trade-offs, and defend design choices in front of customers and management.

Qualifications

• Master or PhD in Physics, Aerospace, Optical or Electromechanical Engineering.
• 10+ years in space optical instruments, including the definition phases of at least one instrument.
• Strong opto-mechanical design background: mirror substrates (SiC, Zerodur, ULE), lightweighting, isostatic mounts and flexures, bonding, CFRP or Invar structures.
• You know how a mount, a material or a thermal gradient turns into wavefront error and line-of-sight drift.
• You identify the design driver before the analyses confirm it.
• Experience with Very High Resolution (VHR) Earth observation instruments is a strong asset.
• Familiar with system engineering practices and ECSS standards.
• Good knowledge of Matlab/Python and Zemax/OpticStudio.
• You design what can be built, aligned and tested.
• You explain and defend a technical choice in front of customers and management.
• Rigorous, reliable, good writing skills.
• Curious, team player, a natural technical reference.
• Fluent in English. French is an asset.

Responsibilities

• Define the payload architecture for Very High Resolution optical instruments.
• Act as technical authority on opto-mechanical design and oversee mounts, materials and thermal aspects.
• Lead design trade-offs and formalize concepts in early project phases.
• Translate mission needs into payload requirements and first-order budgets.
• Establish preliminary budgets: MTF, wavefront error, line-of-sight stability, radiometry, straylight.
• Check concept against platform constraints: mass, power, volume, thermal, data rate.
• Act as design authority during development and mentor payload engineers.
• Lead the technical content of proposals and defend architecture against customer needs.

Skills

Opto-mechanical design

Mirror substrates

Lightweighting

Isostatic mounts

Flexures

Thermal design

System engineering

ECSS standards

MATLAB

Python

Education

Master or PhD in Physics, Aerospace, Optical or Electromechanical Engineering

Tools

Zemax/OpticStudio

MATLAB

Python

Job description

AMOS, part of the Aerospacelab group in Liège, seeks an Optical Payload Architect to define the architecture of Very High Resolution optical payloads for Earth observation satellites. You will be the technical authority on opto-mechanical design, overseeing mounts, materials and thermal aspects within a multidisciplinary payload team.

You translate mission requirements into architecture, balance trade-offs, and defend design choices in front of customers and management.