Senior Optomechanical Engineer - Photonics packaging at Advanced Navigation – Sydney, New South Wales

Advanced Navigation is the world’s most determined innovator in AI robotics and navigation technologies across land, air, sea and space applications. Founded on a culture of research and discovery, Advanced Navigation's mission is to be the catalyst of the autonomy revolution. Fields of expertise include artificial intelligence, underwater sonar, GNSS, radio frequency systems, inertial sensors, robotics, quantum sensors and photonics.

Today, Advanced Navigation is a supplier to some of the world's largest companies, including Airbus, Boeing, Google, Tesla, NASA, Apple, and General Motors. Discover it for yourself: https://youtu.be/F7uAqs1gtuk

Overview of the role

You will be the resident expert in designing, developing, and integrating optical and photonic systems from a mechanical standpoint. This is a critical role that will directly contribute to the performance and reliability of our high-tech navigation products, including Fibre Optic Gyroscopes and Laser Velocity Sensors. You will work closely with our multidisciplinary engineering teams, providing essential expertise in opto-mechanical packaging and thermal management.

What you will do

• Design and develop the mechanical layouts and physical configurations for complex optical and photonics systems, specifically fiber-optic gyroscopes.
• Provide expert guidance on the mechanical integration of passive and active photonics components, ensuring optimal performance and long-term reliability.
• Analyse and mitigate the effects of environmental factors, particularly thermal stress, on sensitive optical components and fibre assemblies.
• Contribute to the full product lifecycle, from initial concept and design through to prototyping, testing, and production.
• Apply principles of Design for Manufacture (DFM) to ensure new products can be efficiently and cost-effectively scaled for production.
• Use CAD tools, such as SolidWorks, to create detailed engineering drawings and models.
• Collaborate with the broader engineering team to troubleshoot design issues and identify opportunities for product improvement.

What you will bring to the role

Educational Background: a Bachelor's degree in a relevant engineering or physics discipline is required. A Master's or PhD is desirable but not essential. We value practical experience and a strong portfolio of past work over formal qualifications.

Opto-Mechanical Design: you have proven experience in the mechanical design and integration of optical components, including active and passive photonics parts. You understand component mounting, alignment, and packaging to maximise system performance.

Fibre Optic Gyroscopes (FOG): you have prior experience with Fibre Optic Gyroscopes, especially with designing the mechanical integration of fibre optic coils that serve as the primary sensing element in a FOG.

Thermal Management: you have a demonstrated ability to design opto-mechanical systems that perform reliably under significant thermal variation. Your experience includes designing for thermal expansion and contraction, and mitigating temperature-induced stress on sensitive optical fibres and components.

Production Engineering: you have experience with Design for Manufacture (DFM) and New Product Introduction (NPI). You have a practical understanding of how to transition a product from the design phase to a scalable production environment.

Telescope Design: you have experience designing telescopes or similar optical systems; this is highly beneficial, particularly for our Laser Velocity Sensor (LVS) products.

CAD and Optical Modelling: you are proficient with Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software such as SolidWorks or a similar industry-standard tool. Experience with ray tracing and optical modelling tools, such as Zemax, is a strong advantage.