Senior R&D Mechanical Engineer – Scientific Instrumentation

Agilent Technologies•San Francisco, CA

About The Position

Agilent is seeking a Senior R&D Mechanical Engineer to develop advanced scientific instrumentation in Santa Clara. The role combines hands-on mechanical engineering with technical leadership across precision mechanisms, vacuum-compatible assemblies, thermal management, materials selection, packaging, and design for manufacturing and service. The engineer leads mechanical architecture and detailed design from concept through release, translating scientific, system, and customer-use requirements into practical, verified designs. They also plan and execute prototype builds and design verification, investigate root causes, and document findings and recommendations with technical evidence. The position works closely with scientific, engineering, manufacturing, quality, procurement, supplier, and service teams, and includes mentoring engineers and technicians and contributing reusable design practices and standards. This is a full-time position with a day shift and occasional travel. The full-time-equivalent pay range is $153,823 to $269,550 per year, with eligibility for bonus, stock, and benefits. Applications will be accepted until at least October 28, 2026, or until the job is no longer posted.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related engineering discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
At least 8 years of professional mechanical design experience delivering complex hardware products, with depth and independence consistent with an Expert-level role.
Ability to solve ambiguous, complex, high-impact design problems with limited direction.
Strong knowledge of engineering materials and their behavior under thermal and mechanical loading, including heat conduction and thermal expansion.
Experience designing laboratory or scientific equipment, considering cleanliness, chemical exposure, temperature, humidity, vibration, transportation, and normal operating conditions.
Experience producing engineering drawings and applying geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, tolerance analysis, and design-release practices.
Experience with machined, sheet-metal, molded, fabricated, rapid 3D-printed, and purchased components, as well as external suppliers.
Ability to communicate technical decisions clearly and collaborate across scientific, engineering, manufacturing, quality, and service functions.

Nice To Haves

Advanced proficiency with Siemens NX or a comparable parametric 3D CAD platform; experience with Teamcenter or another PLM system.
Experience with thermal and structural finite-element analysis, computational fluid dynamics, or tools such as Simcenter FloEFD.
Design experience involving analytical instruments, mass spectrometry, chromatography, spectroscopy, diagnostics, semiconductor equipment, or other precision scientific systems.
Experience with high- or ultra-high-vacuum hardware, precision ion-optics or charged-particle assemblies, turbomolecular and rough vacuum pumps, vacuum feedthroughs, seals, gas-flow control valves, pneumatic system control, and contamination-sensitive designs.
Knowledge of low-outgassing materials in UHV and HV environments, thermal isolation and heat dissipation, high-voltage clearances, electromagnetic effects, cable routing, electronics packaging, and PCB technologies.
Expertise selecting and specifying thermal management components such as heaters with temperature sensors for atmospheric and vacuum environments.
Knowledge of heating technologies, including cartridge heaters, resistive heating, and gas heating for high-purity environments, including their control.
History of technical leadership on major projects, invention or patent contributions, supplier collaboration, and mentoring engineers or technicians.

Responsibilities

Lead mechanical architecture and detailed design for complex scientific instruments, subsystems, prototypes, fixtures, and test hardware from concept through release.
Translate scientific, system, and customer-use requirements into mechanical concepts, specifications, tolerance schemes, and verified designs.
Select materials, finishes, adhesives, fasteners, seals, and manufacturing processes for laboratory, vacuum, high-voltage, thermal, and contamination-sensitive environments.
Create and maintain 3D models, assemblies, drawings, bills of material, and configuration-controlled design documentation using MCAD and PLM systems.
Perform or direct thermal, structural, tolerance, fit, and stack-up analyses, using calculations and simulation to guide decisions and reduce technical risk.
Design for manufacturability, assembly, reliability, serviceability, cost, safety, and compliance while balancing instrument performance and schedule.
Plan and execute prototype builds, design verification, root-cause investigations, and corrective actions; document conclusions and recommendations with technical evidence.
Present designs and corrective actions to the team.
Partner with scientists, electrical and software engineers, manufacturing, quality, procurement, suppliers, and service teams to resolve integration issues.
Lead technical reviews, communicate risks and tradeoffs to stakeholders, and act as an escalation point for complex mechanical problems.
Mentor engineers and technicians, establish design practices, and contribute reusable methods, standards, and lessons learned across programs.