Lead Opto-Mechanical Engineer, Space Payloads

Anduril Industries; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 183,000 - 243,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity grants

Top-tier benefits

Job summary

Anduril Industries in Costa Mesa, CA, is seeking a senior mechanical design engineer to own space payload hardware from concept to launch. You will perform analyses, lead reviews, and ensure sub-arcsecond pointing through precise thermal and structural design.

The role requires a BS in engineering, 5+ years of mechanical design experience, and the ability to obtain a U.S. Top Secret clearance. Experience with exotic materials and NX/Teamcenter is preferred.

Qualifications

• BS or higher degree in engineering or hard science.
• Ability to obtain and hold U.S. Top Secret security clearance.
• 5+ years of mechanical design experience and demonstrated track record of success.
• Experience with exotic opto-mechanical materials (composites, titanium, beryllium, Invar, Zerodur, etc.).
• Experience with tolerance stack-ups, mechanical alignments, kinematic mounting, and qualification test campaigns.
• CAD proficiency and ability to create engineering drawings meeting industry standards (GD&T).
• Hands-on fabrication and assembly skills with hand tools, mill, lathe, etc.
• Strong fundamentals in optics, heat transfer, statics, solid mechanics, and materials.
• Excellent attention to detail, highly motivated, self-starting, and autonomous.
• Organized with ability to define scope and requirements for ambiguous problems.
• Experience with high-reliability design, athermalization, and vibration/shock resistance.

Responsibilities

• Create opto-mechanical designs of space payloads ranging from small cameras to large telescopes.
• Act as Responsible Engineer: conduct analyses, visit vendors and test sites, define and execute test plans, and manage subsystem interfaces.
• Run finite element models and hand calculations to predict stresses in mechanical and optical components.
• Contribute to STOP analyses to evaluate structural and thermal effects on optical performance.
• Conduct hand calculations and run higher order thermal analyses to evaluate survival and operational on-orbit temperatures including solar loading effects through apertures and optics.
• Design alignment features and conduct tolerance stack-ups enabling sub-arcsecond payload pointing and stability over large temperature ranges.
• Own hardware design from concept to launch, intelligently pacing design maturity with a holistic program view.
• Use first principles for every decision and continuously simplify designs.
• Communicate pros/cons of system architectures with respect to mechanical design and packaging considerations.
• Lead subsystem design reviews and provide clear status updates on timelines and technical progress.
• Build prototypes, analyze failures, and transition successful designs to flight hardware and low-rate production.
• Create excellent technical documentation (presentations, test plans/reports, procedures, drawings, specifications, etc.).
• Mentor junior engineers

Skills

Opto-mechanical design

Finite element analysis

Thermal analysis

Material science

Programming for models

Education

BS or higher in engineering or hard science

Tools

NX/Teamcenter

Job description

Anduril Industries in Costa Mesa, CA, is seeking a senior mechanical design engineer to own space payload hardware from concept to launch. You will perform analyses, lead reviews, and ensure sub-arcsecond pointing through precise thermal and structural design.

The role requires a BS in engineering, 5+ years of mechanical design experience, and the ability to obtain a U.S. Top Secret clearance. Experience with exotic materials and NX/Teamcenter is preferred.