Principal Mechanisms Engineer

Responsibilities

• Responsible for delivering the... (1) design and tolerancing; (2) line-of-sight error budgeting and stabilization analysis; (3) environmental test and qualification plan; (4) supply chain and high-volume manufacturing plans; and (5) ground- and in-flight performance validation plans ... for coarse pointing assemblies supporting large aperture (0.1m - 1m diameter) optical payloads
• Collaborate with the optical and satellite bus teams to determine the optimal set of requirements for optical payload coarse pointing assemblies
• Own the top-level CAD assembly for the optical payloads that you work on and work closely with the satellite structures team to determine optimal placement on the bus
• Prepare design reviews for your mechanisms to get stakeholder buy-in and communicate expectations to the other hardware, software, test, and manufacturing teams
• Continually own and refine program deliverables and associated schedules throughout development and production
• Responsible for the evaluation and selection of manufacturing equipment for specialty processes
• Partner with production to develop work instructions, in-process checkouts, and end-of-line tests that ensure successful builds

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, aerospace, or other relevant engineering discipline
• 8+ years of hands-on laboratory or work experience in optomechanics, electromechanical mechanisms, or electrical/mechanical design and testing
• Deep experience with CAD and FEA software packages (examples/ NX, Simcenter, FEMAP, and/or Hypermesh)
• Minimum 3+ years of experience working with one or more computer programing languages (examples: Python, Rust, C++, and/or MATLAB)

Nice to Have

• Experience with precision optical mechanisms — specifying requirements, trading gimbal / head-mirror / nested coarse-fine architectures, quantifying mechanism error, and validating pointing performance at the system level
• Deep knowledge of 2-axis gimbal design for space applications, including bearing selection and preload, structural design, drive mechanisms, angular runout, and long-life operation in vacuum
• Experience closing line-of-sight performance budgets through analysis, controls integration, and test — including structural dynamics, tolerance stack-up, jitter analysis, pointing calibration, and environmental qualification
• Familiarity with precision actuation, sensing, and control technologies for space mechanisms, including encoders, resolvers, gyros / IMUs, and feedforward / closed-loop control approaches
• Experience designing harness routing, cable wraps, slip rings, and other cable-management approaches for continuously or widely rotating mechanisms, including routing optical fibers through moving axes while managing bend radius, strain relief, and pointing disturbance
• Experience leading mechanism hardware through the full product life cycle: requirements generation, architecture trades, detailed design, prototype builds, assembly / integration / test, productionizing, and flight validation
• Experience contributing to spacecraft-level alignment and calibration planning for optical pointing mechanisms, including coordination with optical, GNC, and systems teams to relate mechanism reference frames to payload, spacecraft, and star-tracker coordinate systems
• Experience with NASA-STD-5017, SMC-S-016, and GSFC-STD-7000 for the design and qualification of in-space Moving Mechanism Assemblies

Compensation and Benefits

• Base salary range for this role is $175,000 - $200,000 + equity in the company
• Salary and level will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level
• Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks