Product and Mechanical Engineering Lead

Azora; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous equity

Competitive healthcare (vision/dental)

401(k)

Unlimited PTO

Job summary

Azora is hiring to lead the design and industrialization of compact optical terminals for terrestrial and space-bound use. You will own system architecture and partner with engineers to deliver manufacturable, repeatable products that perform in real-world environments and scale for production.

You will drive tolerance engineering, plan for safety and EMC/EMI testing, and balance cost vs. performance across the design to ensure competitive, buildable terminals.

Qualifications

• Track record taking compact, complex products from design through to mass production.
• Hands-on experience with optical, electrical, and mechanical integration.
• Strong robustness and tolerance engineering for consumer or industrial products.
• Demonstrated ownership of full system architecture in a cross-disciplinary team.
• Familiarity with electrical safety and EMC compliance testing.

Responsibilities

• Lead optical, electrical, and mechanical integration into compact, manufacturable terminals.
• Own full system architecture, working with electrical and mechanical engineers to hit size, performance, and producibility targets.
• Drive robustness and tolerance engineering — tolerance stack-ups, worst-case analysis, and design margins drawn from consumer or industrial product practice.
• Design for manufacturing and assembly (DFM/DFA), and stand up a repeatable build process across internal and external manufacturing.
• Plan and oversee electrical safety and EMC/EMI compliance testing (e.g., FCC Part 15, CE/UKCA, relevant IEC safety standards).
• Balance cost and performance across the design, making the trades that keep the product both buildable and competitive.

Job description

About the role

You’ll lead the design and industrialization of Azora’s optical communication terminals — both terrestrial and space-bound. The goal is hardware that’s not just functional in the lab but repeatable, reliable, and producible at volume. If you’ve taken compact optical or imaging products from a working prototype to a mass-producible design, this is built for you. You’ll own system architecture and partner closely with electrical, mechanical, and optical engineers to deliver compact, integrated products that survive real-world environments and a real production line.

What you’ll do

• Lead optical, electrical, and mechanical integration into compact, manufacturable terminals.

• Own full system architecture, working with electrical and mechanical engineers to hit size, performance, and producibility targets.

• Drive robustness and tolerance engineering — tolerance stack-ups, worst-case analysis, and design margins drawn from consumer or industrial product practice.

• Design for manufacturing and assembly (DFM/DFA), and stand up a repeatable build process across internal and external manufacturing.

• Plan and oversee electrical safety and EMC/EMI compliance testing (e.g., FCC Part 15, CE/UKCA, relevant IEC safety standards).

• Balance cost and performance across the design, making the trades that keep the product both buildable and competitive.

What you bring

• Track record taking compact, complex products from design through to mass production.

• Hands-on experience with optical, electrical, and mechanical integration.

• Strong robustness and tolerance engineering for consumer or industrial products.

• Demonstrated ownership of full system architecture in a cross-disciplinary team.

• Familiarity with electrical safety and EMC compliance testing.

Nice to have

• A hands-on engineer who wants technical contribution across every part of the product.

• Autonomous systems experience, including software control of complex hardware.

• Experience managing both internal and external manufacturing.

• Cost/performance engineering at the product level.

• Free-space optics, laser comms, or precision optical product background

Location

This is an onsite/hybrid role based in Tempe, AZ or the Bay Area, CA – hardware work that’s hard to do remotely. Some travel expected for field deployment and vendor/manufacturing visits.

Benefits

• Generous equity

• Competitive healthcare (including options for vision and dental)

• 401(k)

• Unlimited PTO

EEO & Reasonable Accommodations

• Azora is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

• If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know by contacting [e-mail]

Export Control

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicants must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful permanent resident (iii) protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or (iv) be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Salary ranges are based on the following criteria:

• Level 1 (starting from $130,000 USD): 3-5 years of experience in relevant roles.

• Level 2 (starting from $160,000 USD): 5-15 years of experience in relevant roles.

• Final salary is based on geographic location, experience, skills, and qualifications

About this Company

Azora is building high-bandwidth communications infrastructure for environments where fiber can’t reach. This work spans LEO spacecraft constellations, lunar exploration missions, GEO satcom, deployable optical ground for defense, and data centers both on- and off-world. To enable rapid global proliferation Azora is developing compact and modular optical terminals small enough to deploy from a backpack, and space terminals that support high speed optical links from LEO out to the Moon.