Staff Mechanical Engineer (QSS)

Infleqtion•Louisville, CO

26d•$175,000 - $200,000

About The Position

Infleqtion is a global quantum technology company seeking a system-level mechanical engineer to design the infrastructure, mounting, and environmental-survivability architecture for their Quantum Gravity Gradiometer (QGG). This role involves ensuring the QGG sensor head can withstand launch, handling, transport, and microgravity testing while maintaining the precision required for quantum measurement. The engineer will collaborate closely with customers, internal teams (researchers, systems engineers, optical and electrical engineers, aerospace experts), manufacturing partners, suppliers, and external contractors. This position requires driving technical alignment across multiple engineering domains and ensuring delivery against program milestones and quality standards.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a closely related engineering discipline.
6+ years of relevant and progressive experience in precision mechanical, opto-mechanical, aerospace, or high-reliability hardware roles.
Demonstrated expert-level proficiency in SolidWorks CAD design tools, including parts, assemblies, drawings, and configuration control.
Excellent proficiency in first-principles mechanical engineering, including load paths, stiffness, thermal expansion, tolerancing, materials, and design trade studies.
Experience using SolidWorks Simulation or comparable structural/thermal analysis tools; ability to interpret results and correlate analyses with hardware test.
Excellent technical leadership and collaboration skills, with the ability to drive decisions across mechanical, optical, electrical, systems, and manufacturing teams.
Advanced understanding of opto-mechanics, including free-space optical mounting, collimation, free-space and fiber-coupled alignment, flexures, and alignment/tolerance stability through build and environmental test.
Demonstrated DFx experience: design for cost, manufacturing, assembly, test, reliability, and serviceability.
Understanding of ASTM E595 and practical material selection for vacuum and space environments, including outgassing, thermal expansion, contamination, corrosion, and non-magnetic constraints.
Experience designing custom flexure mounts, precision optical/instrument mounts, or passive isolation/damping features.
Demonstrated tolerance analysis and tolerance-stack-up experience for precision assemblies.
Hands-on engineer with experience building, debugging, and improving engineering-development and flight- or production-intent hardware.
Uses AI appropriately for engineering leverage while understanding the limitations of current platforms and maintaining independent technical judgment and verification.
Ability to travel domestically and (potentially) internationally up to 10%.

Nice To Haves

Comfortable with a hands-on engineering-leadership approach, including time in the lab, supplier discussions, integration, and environmental test.
Master's or PhD degree in aerospace, mechanical engineering, or related field.
Experience delivering advanced technologies to commercial, civil, defense, or space markets, ideally through formal design review and environmental verification.
Experience in hardware DFx (design for cost, manufacturing, assembly, test, sustainment) and supplier technical management.
Familiarity with quantum sensing, atomic physics, precision optics/photonics, vacuum systems, or high-stability inertial/gravity instrumentation.

Responsibilities

Complete the design of the QGG sensor head and associated hardware for operation in development, microgravity test, terrestrial, and space environments, considering structural dynamics, thermal performance, optical alignment stability, magnetic cleanliness, mass, packaging, manufacturability, and quantum-sensor performance.
Present progress, analyses, risks, design decisions, and test results to senior management, design-review boards, and the end customer.
Execute and direct modeling, simulation, analysis, and test-correlation efforts for product performance, including structural, thermal, modal, vibration, shock, and tolerance analysis.
Responsible for the mechanical integration of sensor-head subsystems with optical, electrical, vacuum, thermal, fiber, cable, and external spacecraft or ground-test interfaces.
Identify, qualify, and technically manage key suppliers for precision machined parts, opto-mechanical hardware, isolation/damping hardware, specialty materials, and manufacturing processes.
Follow Infleqtion's Product Lifecycle Process and support phased gate reviews, design reviews, configuration control, build readiness, environmental test readiness, and executive updates.
Develop and maintain mechanical risk-management and risk-resolution plans; support reliability analysis, nonconformance resolution, lessons learned, and continuous improvement.
Coach and mentor junior engineers in practical mechanical design, drawing quality, tolerance analysis, build discipline, and design-for-manufacturability/test.
Other duties as assigned or required.