Precision Optical Instrument Engineer – Astronomy

Inuplands; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 75,000 - 156,000; Full time

Job summary

Draper in Cambridge, MA is seeking an Astronomical Instrument Engineer to design, model, test and deploy optics-based celestial imaging instruments. You will work on lab- and field-based instrumentation, perform ray tracing, CAD modeling, and data reduction, and collaborate across engineering teams to realize robust hardware.

The role requires a bachelor’s degree in mechanical, applied physics, electrical or computer engineering and 3–5 years of hardware-instrument experience.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Applied Physics, Electrical or Computer Engineering.
• 3–5 years of hardware instrument engineering experience.
• Ability to obtain and maintain government security clearance (Secret preferred).

Responsibilities

• Applies technical knowledge to domains related to their area of expertise and seeks out new technical skills to support program needs.
• Analyzes requirements and develops appropriate precision instruments with minimal guidance.
• Designs experiments and experimental hardware to prove which design concepts are viable and optimal.
• Collaborates with other engineers to design and develop prototype and production hardware to meet the application needs.
• Collaborates with other groups to integrate precision instruments into larger systems, delivering on performance metrics.
• Develops initial processes for the fabrication of custom designed instruments.
• Drafts and presents formal technical documents, reports, and testing results to manager for approval.
• Provides training related to devices to employees, sub-contractors and/or customers.
• Performs basic independent research and seeks assistance when needed for solving problems.

Skills

Verbal comm

Written comm

Instrument design

Optics

Math/Physics

Team collaboration

Attention to detail

Modeling tools

CAD/FEA

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Applied Physics, Electrical or Computer Engineering

Tools

MATLAB

CAD

FEA

Job description

Draper in Cambridge, MA is seeking an Astronomical Instrument Engineer to design, model, test and deploy optics-based celestial imaging instruments. You will work on lab- and field-based instrumentation, perform ray tracing, CAD modeling, and data reduction, and collaborate across engineering teams to realize robust hardware.

The role requires a bachelor’s degree in mechanical, applied physics, electrical or computer engineering and 3–5 years of hardware-instrument experience.