Experienced Mechanical Engineer — Optomechanical Systems

About the Role

We are seeking a world-class Mechanical Engineer to lead the design, analysis, prototyping, testing, and fabrication of compact, high-performance mechanical and optomechanical systems.

This role is ideal for an engineer who has built small, mission-critical hardware for demanding environments, particularly missile seekers, aerial sensing systems, electro-optical payloads, or similarly constrained aerospace and defense platforms.

You will work in a fast-moving applied research environment where ideas are rapidly translated into physical prototypes, tested under realistic environmental conditions, and refined toward production.

What You’ll Do

• Own mechanical and optomechanical systems from early concept through prototype, qualification, and fabrication

• Design compact assemblies integrating optical, electrical, and mechanical components

• Perform structural, thermal, shock, vibration, and environmental analysis

• Develop systems that balance size, weight, performance, manufacturability, and environmental resilience

• Design and execute mechanical and environmental testing programs

• Collaborate closely with optical, electrical, systems, and manufacturing engineers

• Support integration of optical systems into aerial platforms such as drones, missiles, or related vehicles

• Translate experimental designs into robust hardware suitable for field deployment

• Work directly with machine shops, vendors, and fabrication teams to rapidly iterate on designs

Minimum Qualifications

• Significant experience designing and developing compact mechanical systems

• Experience with prototype development and hands-on hardware integration

• Strong understanding of shock, vibration, temperature, and environmental stress effects

• Experience analyzing components and small system-level assemblies

• Advanced CAD capability, preferably with SolidWorks

• Ability to operate effectively in an applied research and rapid-development environment

• Strong mechanical intuition and practical problem-solving ability

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with missile seekers, missile-mounted sensors, or military-grade sensing systems

• Optomechanical design and analysis experience

• Experience integrating optical systems into drones, missiles, aircraft, or other aerial platforms

• Experience qualifying hardware for harsh environmental conditions

• Expertise in SolidWorks and related simulation or analysis tools

• Familiarity with Zemax or collaboration workflows between optical and mechanical design tools

• Understanding of size, weight, power, performance, and environmental-resilience tradeoffs

• Experience supporting systems from R&D through fabrication and early production

Ideal Background

The strongest candidate will have end-to-end experience designing, analyzing, building, testing, and fabricating missile seekers, optical sensors, or similarly compact aerospace systems.

This is not a narrowly defined CAD role. We are looking for an engineer who can take ownership of hard physical problems and carry systems from concept to working hardware.