Senior R&D Mechanical Engineer – Scientific Instrumentation

Agilent Technologies•Santa Clara, CA

2d•$153,823 - $269,550

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 broad 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, translates scientific, system, and customer-use requirements into verified designs, and applies expert judgment to complex, high-impact problems. The role also involves prototype builds, verification, investigation and correction of design issues, cross-functional integration, technical reviews, mentoring, and development of reusable design practices and standards.

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.
Demonstrated 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; Teamcenter or other PLM experience.
Experience with thermal and structural finite-element analysis, computational fluid dynamics, or tools such as Simcenter FloEFD.
Design experience with 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, components, pneumatic system control, and contamination-sensitive designs.
Knowledge of low-outgassing materials for 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, including heaters with temperature sensors for atmospheric and vacuum environments; knowledge of heating technology, cartridge heaters, resistive heating, and gas heating for high-purity environments and 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.
Apply knowledge of material properties and select suitable 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 simulations to guide decisions and reduce technical risk.
Design for manufacturability, assembly, reliability, serviceability, cost, safety, and compliance while balancing performance and schedule.
Plan and execute prototype builds and design verification; conduct root-cause investigations and corrective actions, and document and present conclusions with technical evidence.
Collaborate with scientific, engineering, manufacturing, quality, procurement, supplier, and service teams to resolve integration issues.
Lead technical reviews, communicate risks and tradeoffs, and serve as an escalation point for complex mechanical problems.
Mentor engineers and technicians and contribute reusable methods, standards, sound design practices, and lessons learned.