Junior Mechanical Engineer
We are looking for a Junior Mechanical Engineer to support our mechanical and optical engineering teams in designing, prototyping, and building an advanced, ultra-high-speed lithographic printing tool. Working closely with senior engineers, you will contribute to prototyping efforts and help transition prototype designs toward scalable, manufacturable tools.
Responsibilities
- Support tool build and alignment. Assist senior engineers in assembling, aligning, and troubleshooting mechanical and opto-mechanical subsystems in our advanced lithographic tools, and help implement corrective design improvements.
- Produce design documentation. Create and revise component and assembly drawings, apply GD&T, build tolerance stack-ups, and maintain bills of materials under senior engineers' guidance. Help prepare and submit documentation for revision control.
- Prototype tools and fixtures. Help design, build, and test fixtures, tooling, and opto-mechanical parts for internal and customer projects, including hands-on prototyping with CNC and 3D manufacturing.
- Contribute to analysis. Support tolerance, structural, thermal, and sensitivity analyses that keep tool performance within acceptable limits and learn to evaluate and apply active-alignment approaches.
- Support continuous improvement. As a member of the engineering team, contribute to engineering workflows, design standards, and lab infrastructure.
- Assist with vendors. Help source standard and custom optical and mechanical components and support existing supplier relationships.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering, or a closely related field.
- 0 - 2 years of relevant experience. Internship, co-op, or substantial academic project experience in mechanical design and hands-on build is welcome in place of full-time experience.
- Working proficiency with CAD software such as SolidWorks, Fusion 360, Inventor, Autodesk Netfabb, or equivalent (coursework or project experience counts).
- A solid grounding in mechanical design fundamentals - drawing practices, GD&T, and tolerancing.
- Hands-on machining or fabrication experience (CNC, 3D printing, or additive manufacturing).
- Enthusiasm for lab work - prototype assembly, testing, and system troubleshooting.
- Clear written and verbal communication and the ability to collaborate in a multidisciplinary team.
- Familiarity with Python, MATLAB, or a similar language for process automation and data analysis.
- An eagerness to learn, take direction, and grow in a fast-paced R&D environment.
Nice to Have
- Exposure to optical, imaging, microscopy, or laser systems and optical component design or test.
- Familiarity with optical modeling and design tools such as Zemax or equivalent.
- Experience with electrical, mechanical, or thermal simulation.
- Experience using Asana for project and task management.
- Coursework or background in aerospace, automotive, medical, or metrology device manufacturing.
Pay
The salary range for this role is $85,000 - $100,000, and we are committed to equitable compensation across the company. Total compensation includes equity in the form of stock options.
Benefits
- We administer benefits through Thatch, providing an annual company-funded allowance that gives employees the flexibility to choose the health plans and coverage that best fit their needs.
- Standard four-week vacation policy and encouragement to take regular, meaningful PTO.
About the Company
Irradiant Technologies is a nano-optics and photonics foundry building unique 3D nanofabricated components, traditionally difficult or impossible to manufacture. Using two-photon polymerization additive manufacturing, we create micro-optics and passive optical interconnects that change how light is used to sense, communicate, image, display, and compute across defense and commercial markets. With our ongoing Series A fund raise, we are scaling from R&D to production and expanding our engineering team to deliver robust, integrated photonic systems. We are located in Waltham, Massachusetts.