Senior R&D Mechanical Engineer – Scientific Instrumentation

Key Responsibilities

• Lead mechanical architecture and detailed design for complex scientific instruments, subsystems, prototypes, fixtures, and test hardware from concept through release.
• Convert scientific, system, and customer-use requirements into practical mechanical concepts, specifications, tolerance schemes, and verified designs.
• Apply advanced understanding of material properties, including thermal conductivity, coefficient of thermal expansion, stiffness, strength, corrosion resistance, chemical compatibility, outgassing, cleanliness, and long-term stability.
• Select materials, finishes, adhesives, fasteners, seals, and manufacturing processes appropriate for laboratory, vacuum, high-voltage, thermal, and contamination-sensitive environments.
• Create and maintain accurate 3D models, assemblies, drawings, bills of material, and configuration-controlled design documentation using enterprise MCAD and PLM systems.
• Perform or direct thermal, structural, tolerance, fit, and stack-up analyses; use engineering calculations and simulation to guide design decisions and reduce technical risk.
• Design for manufacturability, assembly, reliability, serviceability, cost, safety, and compliance while balancing instrument performance and schedule.
• Plan and execute prototype builds, design verification, root-cause investigations, and corrective actions; document conclusions and recommendations with clear technical evidence.
• Partner with scientists, electrical engineers, software engineers, manufacturing, quality, procurement, suppliers, and service teams to resolve cross-functional integration issues.
• Lead technical reviews, communicate risks and tradeoffs to stakeholders, and serve as an escalation point for complex mechanical problems.
• Mentor engineers and technicians, establish sound design practices, and contribute reusable methods, standards, and lessons learned across programs.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related engineering discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• At least 8 years of professional mechanical design experience delivering complex hardware products, with demonstrated depth and independence consistent with an Expert-level role.
• Demonstrated ability to solve ambiguous, complex, and high-impact design problems with limited direction.
• Strong knowledge of engineering materials and their behavior under thermal and mechanical loading, including heat conduction and thermal expansion.
• Experience designing equipment for laboratory or scientific use, with attention to cleanliness, chemical exposure, temperature, humidity, vibration, transportation, and normal operating conditions.
• Experience producing engineering drawings and applying geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, tolerance analysis, and design-release practices.
• Experience working with machined, sheet-metal, molded, fabricated, rapid 3D printed part and purchased components and with external suppliers.
• Ability to communicate technical decisions clearly and collaborate effectively across scientific, engineering, manufacturing, quality, and service functions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced proficiency with Siemens NX or a comparable parametric 3D CAD platform; Teamcenter or other PLM experience.
• Experience with thermal and structural finite-element analysis, computational fluid dynamics, or tools such as Simcenter FloEFD.
• Design experience involving analytical instruments, mass spectrometry, chromatography, spectroscopy, diagnostics, semiconductor equipment, or other precision scientific systems.
• Experience with high- or ultra-high-vacuum hardware, precision ion-optics or charged-particle assemblies, turbo molecular and rough vacuum pumps, vacuum feedthroughs, seals, gas-flow control valves, components, pneumatic system control and contamination-sensitive designs.
• Knowledge of low-outgassing materials in UHV, HV environment thermal isolation and heat dissipation, high-voltage clearances, electromagnetic effects, cable routing, electronics packaging and PCB technologies.
• Expertise in selecting and specifying thermal management components like heaters with temperature sensors in atmospheric and vacuum environments.
• Knowledgeable in heating technology, cartridge heaters, resistive heating and gas heating for high purity environments including the control thereof.
• History of technical leadership on major projects, invention or patent contributions, supplier collaboration, and mentoring engineers or technicians.