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Anduril

Builds autonomous weapons for the US and allies

Senior Mechanical Engineer: Optical Payloads - Space

Design EngineeringConfirmed live in the last 24 hours
Full-timeCosta Mesa, CA, USAIn-person

About the Job

Requirements

  • A BS or higher degree in engineering or hard science.
  • Ability to obtain and hold a U.S. Top Secret security clearance.
  • At least five years of mechanical design experience with a demonstrated track record of success.
  • Experience with exotic opto-mechanical materials, including composites, titanium, beryllium, Invar, and Zerodur.
  • Experience with tolerance stack-ups, mechanical alignments, kinematic mounting, and qualification test campaigns.
  • Proficiency in computer-aided design (CAD) and the ability to create engineering drawings meeting industry standards, including geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T).
  • Hands-on fabrication and assembly skills using hand tools, mills, and lathes.
  • Strong fundamentals in optics, heat transfer, statics, solid mechanics, and materials.
  • Attention to detail, motivation, self-direction, and ability to work autonomously.
  • Organization and ability to define scope and requirements for ambiguous problems.
  • Experience with high-reliability design, athermalization, and vibration and shock resistance.

Responsibilities

  • Create opto-mechanical designs for space payloads ranging from small cameras to large telescopes.
  • Act as the Responsible Engineer by conducting analyses, visiting vendors and test sites, defining and executing test plans, and managing subsystem interfaces.
  • Run finite element models and hand calculations to predict stresses in mechanical and optical components.
  • Contribute to structural-thermal-optical-performance (STOP) analyses to evaluate structural and thermal effects on optical performance.
  • Conduct hand calculations and higher-order thermal analyses to evaluate survival and operational on-orbit temperatures, including solar loading effects through apertures and optics.
  • Design alignment features and conduct tolerance stack-ups to enable sub-arcsecond payload pointing and stability over large temperature ranges.
  • Own hardware design from concept to launch, pacing design maturity with a holistic program view.
  • Use first principles in design decisions and continuously simplify designs.
  • Communicate the pros and cons of system architectures with respect to mechanical design and packaging considerations.
  • Lead subsystem design reviews and provide status updates on timelines and technical progress.
  • Build prototypes, analyze failures, and transition successful designs to flight hardware and low-rate production.
  • Create technical documentation, including presentations, test plans and reports, procedures, drawings, and specifications.
  • Mentor junior engineers.

Desired Qualifications

  • Experience with NX and Teamcenter.
  • Hands-on technical project experience from academic, extracurricular, or personal projects.
  • Parallel industry experience.
  • Ability to integrate electronic components, including PCB assemblies, motors, and sensors, into mechanical designs.
  • Coding experience in Python, MATLAB, or C++ for analytical models and data acquisition or automation.
  • Structural or thermal testing experience, including sensor selection, data acquisition, and post-processing; Python is preferred.

About the Company

Anduril

Builds autonomous weapons for the US and allies

Anduril builds autonomous weapons, such as drones, cruise missiles, and robot submarines, for the US military and its allies, often developing them with its own money before any order arrives. In 2024 it beat Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman for an Air Force contract to develop Fury, a pilotless jet that flies alongside crewed fighters. Its Lattice software merges camera and radar feeds into one live map and lets a few operators direct many drones and weapons at once, including other companies' systems. Governments buy its systems under contract, and Anduril builds much of the hardware in its own factories. Oculus founder Palmer Luckey co-founded Anduril in 2017, and it is based in Costa Mesa, California.

Company size
10,001+
Company stage
Private
Total funding
$11.5B
Headquarters
Costa Mesa, CA
Founded
2017

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