Senior Mechanical Engineer

Dimer Instruments; Santa Barbara (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Dimer Instruments seeks a Senior Mechanical Engineer to own precision mechanical designs and system-level architecture for laboratory instruments. Reporting to the CTO, you’ll drive multidisciplinary integration across mechanical, optical, electrical, thermal, and software subsystems to deliver robust, manufacturable solutions.

You will perform tolerance analysis, GD&T, and DFMEA, build prototypes, and lead design reviews to ensure quality and cost targets are met in a collaborative, fast-paced

Qualifications

• Requires a degree in mechanical engineering with extensive experience in precision mechanical systems.
• Experience with system-level engineering and integration of multidisciplinary instruments (mechanical, optical, electrical, thermal, software).
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to communicate complex concepts clearly.

Responsibilities

• Generate expert-level mechanical designs for R&D, development, and sustaining efforts, with tolerance analysis and FEA as needed.
• Design precision mechanical systems and chassis, including sheet metal parts and electro-mechanical components.
• Own system-level architecture and integration across subsystems to meet market requirements.
• Define and manage system-level requirements, interfaces, and specs for robust real-world performance.
• Perform math, simulations, and analyses to predict thermal, mechanical, and vibration behavior.
• Develop prototypes to demonstrate integrated performance across measurement modalities.
• Create solid models, 2D prints, and complex assemblies using GD&T.
• Lead design reviews with multidisciplinary teams and upper management.
• Contribute to DFMEA and mitigation strategies for field serviceability.
• Improve processes, including ECO flow, vendor qualifications, and cost reductions.
• Provide cost and schedule estimates for tasks and projects.

Skills

Precision mechanical design

System-level engineering

FEA

Tolerance analysis

GD&T

DFMEA

Project leadership

Effective communication

Education

B.S. in Mechanical Engineering

M.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

CAD

Job description

FLSA Status: Full time, Regular, Salary, Exempt

About Us

At Dimer Instruments we’re creating the next generation of laboratory and process analytical tools for the pharmaceutical market. Our products use multiple light-based spectroscopic methods to interrogate solutions containing molecules and particles, providing researchers not just with data but with organized information allowing them to make informed decisions, and providing automated Process systems with the feedback required for Quality by Design. At Dimer you’ll be working with a high-quality, high-performing, highly collaborative, and enjoyable team of Engineers and Scientists to create products that make a difference in the world. We have fun while we’re creating great products.

Summary

The Senior Mechanical Engineer will be an imaginative and skilled mechanical designer, capable of understanding big picture needs and generating elegant, practical, cost-effective, and manufacturable solutions. Reporting to the CTO, the Senior Mechanical Engineer will work on precision mechanical designs, including micron-level adjustable opto-mechanical systems, sheet metal and chassis structures, simple injection mold parts, and motorized small doors and other moving elements. This role involves working closely with other engineers and scientists to ensure products meet market requirements and are robust in real-world conditions. As the system engineering owner for Dimer’s instrument platforms, the Senior Mechanical Engineer will also lead system-level architecture and integration across mechanical, optical, electrical, thermal, and software subsystems, will define and manage the requirements and interfaces between those subsystems, and will use math, simulation, and analysis to predict and demonstrate real-world system performance.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Generate expert-level mechanical engineering designs for research, development, and sustaining efforts, including tolerance analysis and finite element analysis (FEA) as needed.
• Design precision mechanical systems and provide designs for sheet metal chassis, front panels, simple injection-molded parts, and electro-mechanical systems (e.g., doors opening).
• Own and drive the system-level architecture and design of laboratory analytical instrument products, integrating mechanical, optical, electrical, thermal, and software subsystems into a coherent whole that meets market requirements.
• Define and manage system-level requirements, interfaces, and specifications across subsystems, ensuring designs remain robust for real-world conditions and global shipment (e.g., withstanding transport and environmental variation without optical misalignment, and reliably operating in non-ideal laboratory conditions).
• Perform system-level math, simulation, and analysis to predict real-world performance of physical systems (e.g., thermal behavior and cooling rates of thermoelectric assemblies, mechanical stability and vibration, and tolerance stack-up across subsystems).
• Design, build, and demonstrate system-level prototypes that prove out integrated performance and functionality across measurement modalities.
• Create solid models, 2D prints from 3D models, and complex assemblies using GD&T (Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing).
• Build and test prototypes to demonstrate functionality and performance.
• Contribute to Design Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (DFMEA) and mitigation analysis, including system/architectural level designs that achieve field serviceability requirements.
• Improve engineering and operations processes, such as engineering change order flow, vendor qualification procedures, and engineering change order implementation.
• Provide root cause analysis for failures and improve designs to mitigate those failures.
• Develop tools and procedures for manufacturing that improve efficiency, product yield, and reduce costs.
• Provide cost and schedule estimates for various tasks.
• Manage projects and tasks to company-defined schedules and budgets.
• Lead technical design reviews with multidisciplinary teams and upper management.
• Contribute to patent applications.
• Perform other tasks as assigned by your supervisor.

Qualifications

• Requires a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with 6 years of industry experience, or an M.S. with 4 years of industry experience, or a Ph.D. with 2 years of industry experience.
• Experience should include precision mechanical systems and support of production.
• Demonstrated experience with system-level engineering and integration of multidisciplinary (mechanical, optical, electrical, thermal, and software) instruments or complex electro-mechanical products, including requirements definition and system-level analysis and simulation.
• Strong problem-solving skills. Able to work independently and as part of a team.
• Proven ability to communicate complex technical concepts to a variety of audiences, both written and verbally.
• Must have social "soft skills" required to be collaborative across the organization.
• Must be able to understand and communicate well in English, both spoken and written, and be able to write reports, work instructions, business correspondence, procedures, and manuals.
• Must be able to present work in an organized way for project and design reviews.

Physical Requirements

The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. When working in machine shop, chemistry, or optics lab, appropriate protective gear must be worn including eyewear, eye protection from laser or UV light, lab coats, and closed toed shoes.

Office space, optics lab, chemistry lab, warehouse, and electronics and optical manufacturing space. The employee may occasionally be exposed to moderate noise levels, e.g. from loud fans in electronics equipment. Travel may occasionally be required, e.g. to test labs, customer sites, for conferences and trade shows, or for training.