Optomechanical Engineer - All Levels
About EON
EON is building the highest-throughput point-to-point data transport network ever deployed in space. Using free-space laser links in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), we move petabytes of data between any two points on Earth as an alternative to subsea or terrestrial fiber. EON recently closed a $10.75M seed financing round led by Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst in their first-ever co-led space deal. EON is building out of its R&D center in Culver City.
Today, approximately 95% of the global internet travels through a few hundred subsea fiber-optic cables, infrastructure designed in the early 2000s that has gone largely unchanged. Demand for new fiber has never been higher, but laying it is extraordinarily difficult: permits, ocean geology, and geopolitical boundaries make every new cable a years-long, billion-dollar undertaking. That bottleneck is a liability with cables at constant risk of being cut, whether by accident or adversarial action, and no amount of ground-based investment can fully solve it.
The Role
Our optics have to be mounted to sub-micron precision and stay aligned under thermal swings, vibration, and handling. We are seeking optomechanical engineers to design the assemblies the beam path rides on and the alignment schemes that keep them true from bench to field. Your work may look like partnering with Optical Design on tolerancing and alignment budgets and with Thermal on the structural-thermal-optical behavior that drives alignment stability.
Responsibilities
Design optomechanical assemblies for EON's laser communications terminals, and carry them from concept through first light
Design mounts, flexures, and kinematic schemes that hold sub-micron alignment under real loads
Contribute to the line-of-sight error budget: structural dynamics, tolerance stack-up, jitter analysis, and pointing calibration
Analyze mechanical and thermal stability of the optical train, supporting structural-thermal-optical (STOP) analysis in partnership with Thermal
Drive tolerance and alignment-budget trades with Optical Design, where optical and mechanical performance are tightly coupled
Execute alignment verification and metrology, confirming assemblies meet their budgets on the bench and after environmental exposure
Support environmental test and qualification (vibration, shock, thermal-vac) that proves assemblies hold alignment through launch and field conditions
Basic Qualifications
A degree in mechanical engineering, optical engineering, physics, or a related discipline
Optomechanical design experience, including mounts, flexures, or kinematic design
Hands-on alignment and integration of precision optical assemblies
Proficiency in 3D CAD (NX, SolidWorks, Creo, or equivalent)
Comfort moving fast and making sound calls without complete data
Preferred Experience
Space or airborne optomechanical hardware, including launch-load and on-orbit stability design
Lasercom or optical communications terminal experience
Structural FEA (ANSYS Mechanical or equivalent) and structural-thermal-optical reasoning
Athermalization and materials selection for stability: CTE matching, low-expansion materials (Invar, Zerodur, silicon carbide), and bonded versus mechanical mounting trades
Fiber-coupling optomechanics: fiber-to-collimator alignment, fiber positioners, or coupling-stability design
Alignment-verification and metrology methods for precision optical hardware
Environmental test and qualification (vibration, shock, thermal-vac) for precision hardware
Cleanliness and contamination control for optical assemblies, including handling, bake-out, and outgassing requirements
A note on level and background: We hire this role at all levels, from Associate through Senior and Principal Optomechanical Engineer, and calibrate title, scope, and compensation to your experience. If this list doesn't perfectly match your background still reach out. We are always looking for exceptional people from many disciplines.
What this job is really like
EON is a lean company by design. There is no program office, no requirements team handing you specs, and no army of analysts. You will build the models, make the calls on incomplete data, and be forced to defend and revise them. You will spend meaningful hands-on time in the lab, not just in reviews. If you do your best work inside a large, well-resourced program, this isn't it. If you want your fingerprints on a Tbps-class link from the start, this is it.
Compensation + Benefits
In addition to base salary (to be determined on a case by case basis), compensation for this role includes:
EON believes the business should be primarily employee owned. In turn, all compensation offers include company stock options for FTEs.
Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental insurance with significant cost covered by the company for yourself and dependents.
Paid parental leave and flexible PTO (3 weeks accrued vacation and 10 company holidays per year).
Relocation assistance to Los Angeles available.
A real equipment and lab budget.
Location: Culver City, CA (onsite).
Endeavor Optical Network is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with EON is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.