Principal Mechanisms Engineer, Optical

Employer description

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by over $1 billion in total funding from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, ICONIQ, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and T. Rowe Price — and with over $1 billion in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers, we're mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space.

The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today's and tomorrow's massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits.

With multiple launches in 2027 and plans to scale to 100 satellites a year, we're Building Bigger — helping develop the solar system and build toward a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a high-growth Series D-funded company, we'd love for you to apply.

The Role 

K2’s plan doesn't stop at satellite buses. Operating our own vehicles and manifesting regular rides to space uniquely positions K2 to design, test, and deploy-at-scale ambitious remote sensing payloads in MEO, GEO, cis-lunar, and deep space on unprecedented timelines. The satellite bus is the platform – the payloads are the mission. 

There are any number of space-based optical payloads that can generate value here on Earth (ex. forest fire detection, climate and atmospheric monitoring, etc.) and further planetary science in our solar system (ex. hyper-spectral imaging, laser-altimetry) -- all of which benefit from precisely steered and stabilized large aperture optical systems for collecting and transmitting optical energy from the UV to the infrared. 

As Principal Mechanisms Engineer, you will be responsible for defining how K2 designs, manufactures, tests, integrates, and deploys coarse pointing assemblies for large aperture optical payloads. The development timelines and manufacturing scale that we are targeting will require meaningful innovation, but you will have the resources and full support of K2 to make this possible and help raise the bar for the next generation of space technology companies. 
 
Responsibilities 

Responsible for delivering the... 

(1) design and tolerancing; 

(2) line-of-sight error budgeting and stabilization analysis; 

(3) environmental test and qualification plan; 

(4) supply chain and high-volume manufacturing plans; and  

(5) ground- and in-flight performance validation plans 

... for coarse pointing assemblies supporting large aperture (0.1m - 1m diameter) optical  payloads

• Collaborate with the optical and satellite bus teams to determine the optimal set of requirements for optical payload coarse pointing assemblies 

• Own the top-level CAD assembly for the optical payloads that you work on and work closely with the satellite structures team to determine optimal placement on the bus 

• Prepare design reviews for your mechanisms to get stakeholder buy-in and communicate expectations to the other hardware, software, test, and manufacturing teams 

• Continually own and refine program deliverables and associated schedules throughout development and production 

• Responsible for the evaluation and selection of manufacturing equipment for specialty processes

• Partner with production to develop work instructions, in-process checkouts, and end-of-line tests that ensure successful builds 

Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, aerospace, or other 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 (examples/ NX, Simcenter, FEMAP, and/or Hypermesh) 

• Minimum 3+ years of experience working with one or more computer programing languages (examples: Python, Rust, C++, and/or MATLAB) 

Nice to Have 

• Experience with precision optical mechanisms — specifying requirements, trading gimbal / head-mirror / nested coarse-fine architectures, quantifying mechanism error, and validating pointing performance at the system level 

• Deep knowledge of 2-axis gimbal design for space applications, including bearing selection and preload, structural design, drive mechanisms, angular runout, and long-life operation in vacuum 

• Experience closing line-of-sight performance budgets through analysis, controls integration, and test — including structural dynamics, tolerance stack-up, jitter analysis, pointing calibration, and environmental qualification 

• Familiarity with precision actuation, sensing, and control technologies for space mechanisms, including encoders, resolvers, gyros / IMUs, and feedforward / closed-loop control approaches 

• Experience designing harness routing, cable wraps, slip rings, and other cable-management approaches for continuously or widely rotating mechanisms, including routing optical fibers through moving axes while managing bend radius, strain relief, and pointing disturbance 

• Experience leading mechanism hardware through the full product life cycle: requirements generation, architecture trades, detailed design, prototype builds, assembly / integration / test, productionizing, and flight validation 

• Experience contributing to spacecraft-level alignment and calibration planning for optical pointing mechanisms, including coordination with optical, GNC, and systems teams to relate mechanism reference frames to payload, spacecraft, and star-tracker coordinate systems 

• Experience with NASA-STD-5017, SMC-S-016, and GSFC-STD-7000 for the design and qualification of in-space Moving Mechanism Assemblies 

Compensation and Benefits 

• Base salary range for this role is $175,000 - $200,000 + equity in the company 

• Salary and level will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level 

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