Opto-Mechanical Engineer

Job Summary

General Atomics (GA), and its affiliated companies, is one of the world's leading resources for high-technology systems development ranging from the nuclear fuel cycle to remotely piloted aircraft, airborne sensors, and advanced electric, electronic, wireless and laser technologies.

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) designs and manufactures first-of-a-kind electromagnetic and electric power generation systems. GA-EMS' expanding portfolio of specialized products and integrated system solutions support critical fleet, space systems and satellites, missile defense, power and energy, and process and monitoring applications for defense, industrial, and commercial customers worldwide.

We have an exciting opportunity for a senior Mechanical Engineer experienced in design and integration in Rancho Bernardo, CA. The ideal candidate would be an experienced mechanical engineer that can lead a system from concept through testing and platform integration by reviewing top level requirements, creating 3D models, reviewing/conducting analysis, leading design reviews, producing and reviewing drawings for fabrication, creating inspection plans, installing systems in the lab or military platform, and performing validation testing. The candidate should have experience integrating, installing, laying out and detailing mechanical, power, thermal and optical payloads for military and industrial environments for airborne, ground, space, and laboratory applications. Candidate should be familiar with structural design and fabrication of lightweight structures. Candidate must be able to lead a team of 3-10 engineers of various disciplines developing a system.


May function in an advisory or project leadership role providing direction to less experienced professional staff. Formulates plans, typically long term, for solution(s) development, documentation, and deployment, as well as meeting various compliance, reporting, and safety standards.

Responsible for the integration of the engineering solution within the overall engineering environment; and ensures that appropriate documentation, testing, maintenance, and engineering updates are completed. Communicates with engineering professionals, users, and management throughout the solution development cycle, represents the company as a prime technical contact on contracts and/or projects, interacts with senior external personnel on technical matters requiring coordination between the organizations, and participates in the development of new or expansion of existing business.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Leads cross-functional teams to integrate various design elements into a cohesive product, ensuring alignment with project objectives and customer requirements.
• Leads engineers responsible for thermal and structural analysis as needed to ensure performance requirements are met.
• Responsible for development of design specifications, CAD models, and technical drawings to identify potential conflicts early in the design process.
• Develop and maintain integration plans, schedules, and milestones to track progress to ensure on budget and timely completion of design integration tasks.
• Conduct design reviews and provide feedback on design concepts, proposing solutions to optimize integration efficiency. Provides practical solutions and insight to problems involving integration and design.
• Coordinate procurement of components and materials required for integration with GA-EMS internal machine shop and external vendors.
• Leads or performs detailed tolerance stack up analysis and geometric and dimensional tolerancing (GD&T) to ensure proper fit and alignment of components.
• Addresses complex and difficult technical issues requiring highly creative approaches, drawing on advanced engineering concepts.
• Leads and generates documentation, including integration procedures, assembly instructions, and technical reports to support the integration process.
• Conduct verification and validation tests to verify the performance and functionality of the integrated designs. Identify and address issues or deviations from requirements.

We recognize and appreciate the value and contributions of individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences and welcome all qualified individuals to apply.

Job Qualifications

• Typically requires a Bachelor's degree, Master's degree or PhD in engineering or a related technical discipline from an accredited institution and progressive engineering experience as follows; nine or more years of experience with a Bachelor's degree, seven or more years of experience with a Master's degree, or two or more years with a PhD. May substitute equivalent engineering experience in lieu of education.
• Experience integrating complex systems for a variety of real-world military and industrial environments. Ideal candidate has mechanical design and test experience as well.
• Must be able to effectively communicate engineering issues, solutions, and analysis results verbally to audiences with varying technical depth and experience.
• Must be able to effectively document and present designs, analysis and test results in the form of briefing packages, drawings, documents and repots.
• Must have experience with organizing, planning, scheduling, conducting, and coordinating workloads to meet established deadlines or milestones with some experience in project leadership.
• Familiarity with DoD and technology transition to the field is desired.
• Specialized in intricate surfacing in CAD is highly desired.
• Experience with handling large assemblies, sheet metal, mechanized systems, and cable integration is highly desired.
• Familiarity with CAD document control (Windchill or similar) is required.
• Structural and thermal FEA experience is highly desired.
• Composite experience is desired.
• Electronics packaging is highly desired.
• Prototyping of mechanical components for quick turnaround testing is highly desired.
• Ability to adapt to a fast-paced environment with fluid requirements is highly desired.
• Able to handle multiple tasks in parallel is highly desired.
• Able to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance at or above the Secret level is required.