Staff Optomechanical Engineer (Aerospace)

Location: Onsite near Denver, Colorado, or Long Beach, California. Candidates must be located near one of these sites.

Base salary: $185,000–$285,000 per year, plus equity and benefits.

Company

hirify.global develops autonomous spacecraft, advanced payloads, mission software, and space-based interceptors for space superiority and defense.

What you will do

• Lead the design and development of optomechanical assemblies for infrared telescopes and sensor systems, including flexure mounts, kinematic mounts, lens and mirror housings, and structural interfaces.
• Develop athermalized designs that preserve optical alignment and performance across operating temperature ranges.
• Design and integrate active and passive cooling solutions, including cryocoolers, conductive cooling, and radiative cooling.
• Perform structural, thermal, and thermo-elastic analyses for vibration, shock, thermal gradients, and other environmental loads.
• Collaborate with optical, thermal, electrical, and systems engineers on manufacturability, tolerance analysis, alignment, and metrology.
• Define optomechanical standards, prepare CAD models and drawings, support suppliers, and present trade studies and analysis results at design reviews.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field; a master’s degree is preferred.
• 8+ years of professional experience in optomechanical design, including direct experience with infrared optical or sensor systems.
• Expertise in flexure and kinematic mount design, athermalized optomechanical design, GD&T, and tolerance stack-up analysis.
• Experience with structural and thermal analysis tools such as ANSYS, NX Nastran, or Thermal Desktop, and proficiency with 3D CAD tools such as SolidWorks, Creo, or NX.
• Familiarity with optical alignment, metrology, optical component specifications, and fabrication processes.
• Must satisfy U.S. Government space technology export requirements: U.S. citizenship, lawful permanent residence, protected individual status, or eligibility to obtain the required authorizations.

Nice to have

• STOP analysis, line-of-sight error budgeting, vibration isolation, and CTE-matched adhesive bonding or potting experience.
• Experience designing optical trains, performing stray-light analysis, and using Zemax/OpticStudio, CODE V, FRED, ASAP, or similar tools.
• Knowledge of IR-transmissive materials, vacuum-compatible design, outgassing, contamination control, and high-reliability aerospace or space programs.
• Experience in a fast-paced startup or similarly dynamic environment.

Culture & Benefits

• Equity participation.
• Health, dental, vision, and HRA/HSA options.
• Paid time off and paid holidays.
• 401(k) and parental leave.
• Work focused on autonomous spacecraft, advanced payloads, and space-based defense capabilities.