K2 Space
Senior Optomechanical Engineer
Los Angeles, CA · Senior
Sponsorship not specified$120k-$210kDetected 1 day ago
AccountingSiemens NXFEAStructural AnalysisGD&TMechanical DesignHardware Design
About the role
- K2's plan doesn't stop at satellite buses.
- The satellite bus is the platform - the payloads are the mission.
- In your first two years you will fly your hardware in space while directly supporting production and integration.
Responsibilities
- Design optomechanical assemblies - optical benches, mirror mounts, lens cells, and support structures - from conceptual design through qualification to on-orbit operations, in support of internal and external customer needs
- Own mounting and alignment of lenses and mirrors, selecting and designing mounting schemes (kinematic/semi-kinematic mounts, flexures, bonded interfaces) that constrain optics without over-constraining them
- Design mirror support structures with explicit attention to jitter and dynamic stability, mount-induced deformation (bonding stress, bolt preload, gravity-release), and thermal stability (CTE matching, athermalization, gradient management)
- Own optical alignment and stability budgets, translating wavefront and pointing decisions
- Lead design reviews from kickoff through qualification and beyond
- Drive hardware development, including hands-on assembly and alignment, development testing (vibration, thermal-vac, modal), analysis correlation, and follow-on hardware iterations
- Perform hardware trades that steer both sub-system and top-level product direction
- Collaborate with a cross-functional team - optical, thermal, structures, GNC, metrology, and manufacturing - to establish product requirements, company processes, and best practices for optomechanical design and manufacturing
- Continually own and refine system deliverables and associated schedules throughout development and production
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical, aerospace, optical, or other relevant engineering discipline
- 5+ years of experience in mechanical or optomechanical design and analysis, with a mechanics-heavy background
- Proficiency with 3D CAD software for detailed part and assembly design
- Hands-on experience mounting optics (lenses and mirrors) and designing the structures that support them
Nice to have
- Proficiency with Siemens NX CAD
- Familiarity with STOP (Structural-Thermal-Optical Performance) analysis and closing pointing/wavefront error budgets across mechanical, thermal, and optical domains
- Experience with flexure design, optical bonding, and kinematic mount design for space environments
- Demonstrated understanding of structural analysis and failure modes of complex mechanical systems in space environments and operations
- Demonstrated experience designing structures for optical stability, accounting for jitter, mounting deformation, and thermal effects
- Experience with FEA for structural, modal, and thermal-elastic analysis
- Experience with the practical application of GD&T, including tolerancing of precision optical interfaces
- Demonstrated proficiency in the principles of mechanical design, materials, and structural dynamics
Compensation
- Base salary range for this role is $ 120,000 - $ 210,000 <span data-ccp-parast
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