K2 Space
Principal Mechanisms Engineer, Optical
$175K–$200K
Los Angeles, CA +1 · Principal · Full-time · Posted Apr 28, 2026
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles - Experience
- 8+ years of relevant hands-on laboratory or work experience; minimum 3+ years working with one or more programming languages.
- Education
- Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, aerospace, or other relevant engineering discipline.
- Visa sponsorship
- Must be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.
About the job
Defines and delivers coarse pointing assemblies for large-aperture optical payloads on spacecraft, from design and qualification through manufacturing and performance validation.
What you'll do
- Own design, tolerancing, line-of-sight error budgeting, stabilization analysis, qualification planning, and ground- and in-flight validation for coarse pointing assemblies.
- Own optical-payload CAD assemblies and coordinate requirements, placement, and design reviews with optical, satellite bus, and other teams.
- Develop manufacturing and production plans, including equipment selection, work instructions, in-process checkouts, and end-of-line tests.
What they ask for
- Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, aerospace, or another relevant engineering discipline.
- 8+ years of hands-on laboratory or work experience in optomechanics, electromechanical mechanisms, or electrical/mechanical design and testing.
- Deep experience with CAD and FEA software packages.
- Minimum 3+ years of experience working with one or more computer programming languages.
Nice to have
- Experience with precision optical mechanisms, pointing performance, or space gimbal design and qualification.
- Experience leading mechanism hardware through the product life cycle, from requirements and design to production and flight validation.
Pay
USD $175,000 - $200,000 base salary
Tools
NX, Simcenter, FEMAP, Hypermesh, Python, Rust, C++, MATLAB
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative