Optomechanical Engineer I

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

1d•$108,784 - $123,552•Onsite

About The Position

The Instruments and Communications Division at JPL is known for developing and infusing technologies for advanced flight sensors, instruments, and deep space communications, covering expertise across the electromagnetic spectrum. The Optics & Spectroscopy Section within this division provides world-leading capabilities in optical instrument development, including research, system architecture, optical system design, opto-mechanical design, analysis, implementation, hardware integration, alignment, testing, and calibration. This role is for an Optomechanical Engineer I within the Optics & Spectroscopy Section, reporting to the Group Supervisor of Optomechanical Engineering. The Optomechanical Engineering group focuses on developing and implementing precision structures for optical instruments for spaceflight, airborne, ground, and testbed systems, with applications in telescopes, spectrometers, coronagraph components, and detector packaging.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, optical engineering, or related technical field with a minimum of 1 year of related work experience; Master’s degree in similar fields with a minimum of 0 years of related work experience.
Experience with CAD tools (e.g., NX or SolidWorks) and mechanical drawings
Experience with analytical approaches (e.g., first-principles hand calculations, tolerance stackup analyses, FEA, STOP, and scripting languages)
Hands-on experience and practical knowledge in hardware integration, optical alignment, state-of-the-art measurement techniques
Team leadership experience, especially with multidisciplinary teams over multiple phases in the project lifecycle

Nice To Haves

Experience with technical contract management (CTM) for vendors of complex optical and mechanical hardware
Experience developing hardware from concept to flight
Advanced knowledge of materials and processes (M&P; e.g., metallurgy or adhesive bonding)
Experience defining subsystem requirements, verification plans, and presenting at lifecycle reviews (e.g., preliminary and critical design reviews; PDR and CDR)
Experience with NASTRAN FEA software or a similar analysis package
Experience with Zemax Optics Studio or CodeV optical design software tools
Experience with Python or MATLAB programming languages, for both data analysis and instrumentation automation tasks

Responsibilities

Own optomechanical hardware through its full lifecycle, including design, analysis, review, procurement, assembly, integration, and precision alignment
Lead multidisciplinary teams and deliver subsystems or instruments that meet technical requirements, cost constraints, and schedule commitments
Use CAD tools to design precision spaceflight instrument parts (including optics and kinematic mounts), airborne instrument parts, and/or ground support equipment (GSE)
Conduct structural finite element analysis (FEA) and structural-thermal-optical performance (STOP) analysis
Support integration and test (I&T) activities including precision alignment and environmental qualification