Mechanical Engineer – Gimbals & Structures (Stock Options)

Endeavor Optical Networks Inc.; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Endeavor Optical Network is seeking a Mechanical Engineer to own the terminal's mechanisms and structures, from demonstrator to production-ready designs. You will collaborate with optomechanical, PAT, GNC, and Thermal teams, delivering reliable, manufacture-ready hardware for space-ground terminals.

The role emphasizes fast decisions, hands-on prototyping, and design-for-manufacturability to enable repeatable assembly across stations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or advanced degree in mechanical engineering or related discipline.
• Mechanism design depth: gimbals, rotation stages, actuators, bearings and drive trains.
• Structural design and analysis experience, with proficiency in FEA (ANSYS Mechanical or equivalent).
• Proficiency in professional 3D CAD (NX, SolidWorks, Creo) with toleranced drawings for fabrication.
• Hands-on prototyping, assembly, and test experience.
• Comfort moving fast and making sound calls without complete data.

Responsibilities

• Design the terminal's gimbal and coarse-steering mechanisms: bearings, drives, encoders, and budgets.
• Design terminal structures: telescope support, enclosures, and load paths for alignment retention.
• Own structural analysis for stiffness, modal behavior, and survival loads, and correlate with test.
• Define mechanism requirements with PAT and GNC seats and translate to hardware.
• Coordinate with Thermal to understand structural-thermal effects on pointing stability.
• Drive design-for-manufacturability and repeatable assembly for scalable production.
• Select and manage suppliers and machine shops for structures and components from prototype to production.
• Support terminal integration and field deployment, handling mechanical issues from bench to site.

Skills

Gimbals

Rotation stages

Actuators

Bearings

Drive trains

Prototyping

Assembly

Testing

Mechanical design

Structural design

FEA

3D CAD

Education

Bachelor's or advanced degree in mechanical engineering or a related discipline

Tools

NX

SolidWorks

Creo

Job description

Endeavor Optical Network is seeking a Mechanical Engineer to own the terminal's mechanisms and structures, from demonstrator to production-ready designs. You will collaborate with optomechanical, PAT, GNC, and Thermal teams, delivering reliable, manufacture-ready hardware for space-ground terminals.

The role emphasizes fast decisions, hands-on prototyping, and design-for-manufacturability to enable repeatable assembly across stations.