Optomechanical Engineer I — Space Optics, Flexible Schedule

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; United States; On-site; USD 109,000 - 124,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental and vision plans

Retirement plans (401k)

Paid time off

Learning and development opportunities

Flexible schedule

Job summary

Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, seeks an Optomechanical Engineer I to own optomechanical hardware from design through alignment and testing. Join a team delivering high-precision optical instruments for spaceflight and ground systems.

You will work under the Group Supervisor of Optomechanical Engineering, leading multidisciplinary teams and applying advanced design, analysis, and alignment techniques.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, optical engineering, or related field with at least 1 year of related work experience; Master’s degree with 0 years.
• Experience with CAD tools (e.g., NX or SolidWorks) and mechanical drawings
• Experience with analytical approaches (e.g., first-principles hand calculations, tolerance stackup analyses, FEA, STOP, and scripting languages)
• Hands-on experience in hardware integration, optical alignment, state-of-the-art measurement techniques
• Team leadership experience with multidisciplinary teams over multiple project phases

Responsibilities

• Own optomechanical hardware through its full lifecycle: design, analysis, review, procurement, assembly, integration, and precision alignment
• Lead multidisciplinary teams and deliver subsystems or instruments that meet technical requirements, cost constraints, and schedule commitments
• Use CAD tools to design precision spaceflight instrument parts and ground support equipment
• Conduct structural finite element analysis (FEA) and STOP analysis
• Support integration and test activities including precision alignment and environmental qualification

Skills

Team leadership

Analytical thinking

Project lifecycle

Instrumentation knowledge

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in mechanical or optical engineering

Master's degree in similar fields

Tools

NX

SolidWorks

Python

MATLAB

Zemax Optics Studio

CodeV

FEA (NASTRAN)

Job description

Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, seeks an Optomechanical Engineer I to own optomechanical hardware from design through alignment and testing. Join a team delivering high-precision optical instruments for spaceflight and ground systems.

You will work under the Group Supervisor of Optomechanical Engineering, leading multidisciplinary teams and applying advanced design, analysis, and alignment techniques.