Senior Mechanical Engineer - Design

Job Summary

The Senior Mechanical Engineer - Design at Daylight will be responsible for mechanical architecture, opto-mechanical design execution, and system-level integration of laser, optical, and robotic subsystems, including tooling and fixtures. Serving as the physical integration backbone of the product, this role operates across three key areas: technical expertise, system-level understanding, and project execution. The engineer produces detailed artifacts defining geometry, tolerances, thermal behavior, alignment sensitivity, manufacturability, and testability while translating system requirements into design specifications, interface dependencies, and test plans. Additionally, they lead engineering deliverables to completion, owning cross-functional interfaces, managing dependencies, and ensuring successful integration closure. 

Job Responsibilities

• Design, fabricate, and modify mechanical and electro-mechanical components, subsystems, and systems, including packaging and thermal design and analysis as applicable.
• Execute robust opto-mechanical design practices including precision mechanisms, kinematics, laser packaging, and thermal control.
• Perform engineering analyses using hand calculations and simulation to drive design decisions. Typical methods include FEA and thermal modeling.
• Develop optical alignment processes suitable for automation and repeatability.
• Convert customer and internal requirements into explicit, testable engineering specifications with objective acceptance criteria.
• Define and maintain mechanical interface requirements, especially those that are interdependent with other cross-functional domains.
• Lead technical activities and deliver results on schedule and within budget.
• Provide cost, schedule, and resource inputs for design assignments; execute design-to-cost and design-for-manufacture as explicit boundary conditions.
• Specify and evaluate supplier components, subsystems, and services with clear acceptance criteria.
• Generate engineering artifacts required for release and verification, including models, drawings, analyses, test plans, procedures, and results packages.
• Conduct and participate in formal engineering reviews and support failure analysis and proposal activities.
• Investigate product and process problems and implement corrective actions that improve conformance, yield, and predictability.
• Provide technical leadership and direction to other engineers and support personnel as assigned.
• Communicate clearly in writing and verbally with internal stakeholders and customers.

Ideal Candidate will have

• Laser packaging design experience including soldering, wire bonding, lid welding, adhesive bonding, and hermeticity testing.
• Robotic automation for optical alignment experience.
• Optical metrology design experience.
• CAD proficiency; SolidWorks and PDM preferred.
• FEA capability; ANSYS Structural, Sigfit, and Icepak preferred.
• Experience with Zemax Optical Software
• Demonstrated ability to lead a technical group independently.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or related technical field with a minimum of 5 years of experience; Masters or PHD in relevant field may be substituted for years of industry experience.
• Fluency in relevant technologies and application domain.