Senior Ait Optical Engineer

Stellar Solutions, a nationally recognized "Great Place to Work", offers talented, energetic and immediately available productive resources to satisfy our customers' critical needs in systems engineering, integration and test, mission operations, program management and strategic planning.  We are a leading service and expertise provider for communications, earth observation and remote sensing systems and data products, to the infrastructures that support earth orbiting and future lunar and interplanetary businesses. 

We are actively seeking a Senior AIT Optical Engineer who will be responsible for designing, building, and operating test equipment used to validate optical flight hardware meets design requirements.

The ideal candidate for this role:

• Excels in the dynamic work environment of a technology startup
• Has a strong understanding of Optics, especially relating to telecommunications, free-space propagation, and/or astronomy.
• Enjoys collaboration and skill sharing across teams, and employs creative solutions to achieve goals
• Has solid lab skills and hands on experience designing and implementing laboratory optical experiments, especially involving high-speed communications, dynamic elements, and/or high-powered lasers with passive and/or active optical components
• Is passionate about expanding the commercial potential of Space and redefining what is possible in Earth orbit

Duties:

• Own the lifecycle of all optical components and systems, from creating and evaluating design feasibility all the way through development and implementation of performance testing
• Integrate and collaborate in a hands-on fashion with multiple disciplines such as software, electrical, control and mechanical engineering
• Evaluate and troubleshoot new opto-mechanical assemblies or fabrication processes
• Definition of optical verification strategies
• Develop and document assembly, fabrication, and test procedures for your peers to follow
• Organize and deliver on assigned projects in an independent manner, according to the project schedule.
• Mentor new hires and transfer knowledge
• Interface with stakeholders, both internal and external, to ensure proper spec development and presentation of results
• Comply with federal, state, and company policies, procedures, and regulations

Required Education:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualifications in optics, physics, engineering or related technical discipline

Minimum Requirements:

• Knowledge in the development of space optical instruments, especially in the field of telescopes, spectrometers and interferometers within an industrial or scientific environment
• Enthusiasm to work on many projects simultaneously in a self-directed manner, in a fast paced multi-cultural startup environment
• Desire and motivation to fully own your duties, with a high degree of organization and a flair for process-oriented thinking
• Experience with optical design software (e.g. ZEMAX, STAR STOP analysis module, Code V, ASAP)
• Experience with mechanical design software (e.g. Solidworks, Siemens NX, SolidEdge, Creo, CATIA)
• Knowledge of programing languages such as: MATLAB or Python
• To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, candidate must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State

Preferred Experience:

• Space-flight industry experience
• Spanish speaking is a plus
• Experience working in clean room environment from ISO 5 to ISO 8

Salary Range: The typical pay range for this position is USD $200,000 - $260,000 per year, total package. Individual pay is determined by many factors including work location, job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. This position is also eligible for a discretionary annual performance bonus, retirement plan and other benefits (all included as part of package).

This role interfaces closely with the design and production teams to deliver a hardware design that is capable of cost-effective mass production.