Senior Mechanical Engineer, Photonic Systems

Reposted One Month Ago
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Palo Alto, CA, USA
In-Office
168K-197K Annually
Senior level
Hardware • Manufacturing
The Role
Design and deliver optomechanical and optoelectronic OCS packages from prototype to production. Lead DFM/DFx, GD&T, tolerance and risk analyses, fixtures and test setups, BOMs, drawings, and supplier documentation. Coordinate with photonics, process, quality, supply chain, and manufacturing partners to ensure manufacturable, verifiable package designs and production readiness.
Summary Generated by Built In

PsiQuantum’s mission is to build the first useful quantum computers—machines capable of delivering the breakthroughs the field has long promised. Since our founding in 2016, our singular focus has been to build and deploy million-qubit, fault-tolerant quantum systems. 

Quantum computers harness the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems that even the most advanced supercomputers or AI systems will never reach. Their impact will span energy, pharmaceuticals, finance, agriculture, transportation, materials, and other foundational industries. 

Our architecture and approach is based on silicon photonics. By leveraging the advanced semiconductor manufacturing industry—including partners like GlobalFoundries—we use the same high-volume processes that already produce billions of chips for telecom and consumer electronics. Photonics offers natural advantages for scale: photons don’t feel heat, are immune to electromagnetic interference, and integrate with existing cryogenic cooling and standard fiber-optic infrastructure. 

In 2024, PsiQuantum announced government-funded projects to support the build-out of our first utility-scale quantum computers in Brisbane, Australia, and Chicago, Illinois. These initiatives reflect a growing recognition that quantum computing will be strategically and economically defining—and that now is the time to scale. 

PsiQuantum also develops the algorithms and software needed to make these systems commercially valuable. Our application, software, and industry teams work directly with leading Fortune 500 companies—including Lockheed Martin, Mercedes-Benz, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Mitsubishi Chemical—to prepare quantum solutions for real-world impact. 

Quantum computing is not an extension of classical computing. It represents a fundamental shift—and a path to mastering challenges that cannot be solved any other way. The potential is enormous, and we have a clear path to make it real. 

Come join us. 

Job Summary:

The Senior Mechanical Design Engineer is responsible for designing highly complex optomechanical and optoelectronic packages. You will work closely with photonics, packaging, process, test, quality, supply chain, and external manufacturing partners to translate architecture and requirements into buildable, manufacturable, and verifiable package designs. Strong design skills incorporating mechanics of materials, thermodynamics, electronics integration, optical alignment, and precision design principles are a must.

Responsibilities:

  • Ownership of package and subassembly designs from prototype through production readiness.
  • Expertise in Design for Manufacturability, Design for Assembly, and supplier-ready build documentation.
  • Expertise with GD&T for precision optomechanical interfaces, datums, fixtures, and inspection plans.
  • Expertise with tolerance analysis methods for optical alignment, mechanical stack-up, FAU attach, and package interfaces.
  • Generate and maintain process flow documentation, build travelers, and assembly sequence definition.
  • Conduct DFMEA, PFMEA, CTQ mapping, and risk analysis heat maps for package and process development.
  • Fixture design & fabrication for alignment, attach, metrology, handling, and production build support.
  • Test set-up design & fabrication for optical, mechanical, thermal, and process verification activities.
  • Generate & maintain BOM’s, build standards, material callouts, and configuration-controlled package documentation.
  • Generate & maintain Specification & Drawing Trees for package, subassembly, fixture, and supplier documentation.
  • Ability to execute basic structural, thermal, warpage, and tolerance analyses to down-select designs and reduce build risk.
  • Comfortable with PDM / Arena, ECO discipline, drawing release, supplier documentation packages, and revision control.

Experience/Qualifications:

  • Strong communication & interpersonal skills across engineering, operations, quality, and supplier teams.
  • Willingness to support colleagues and external partners to achieve schedule, quality, and build-readiness objectives.
  • Exercises independent judgement in resolving design, interface, and manufacturability tradeoffs.
  • Continuous learning mindset with interest in photonics packaging, process development, and production scale-up.
  • Execution of deliverables against schedule & quality targets in a fast-moving productization environment.
  • Experience with subcontractor management, supplier technical coordination, and manufacturing partner support.
  • Master’s Degree or above in Mechanical Engineering, Optomechanical Engineering, Packaging Engineering, or a relevant discipline.
  • 5 years of experience, with a focus on optomechanical design, optoelectronic packaging, photonics packaging, or precision mechanical systems.

PsiQuantum provides equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. PsiQuantum does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable laws.

Note: PsiQuantum will only reach out to you using an official PsiQuantum email address and will never ask you for bank account information as part of the interview process. Please report any suspicious activity to [email protected].

We are not accepting unsolicited resumes from employment agencies.

Base pay is one part of the total compensation package. Full-time roles are eligible for equity and benefits. Our compensation ranges reflect the cost of labor across multiple U.S. geographic markets, and we pay based on defined geographic zones. This position may be filled within one of the following U.S. geographic zones, each with its own salary range.

Actual compensation may vary outside of these ranges and is dependent on various factors including, but not limited to, a candidate's qualifications, relevant education and training, competencies, experience, geographic location, business needs, and internal equity. Your recruiter can share more details about the salary range applicable to your location during the hiring process.  

  • Zone 1 - Bay Area and NYC 
  • Zone 2 - Examples include Los Angeles and Washington DC 
  • Zone 3 - Examples include Austin, Chicago, and Sacramento 
  • Zone 4 - Examples include Nashville and Phoenix/Tempe and many remote locations 

This position includes the following benefits: competitive health coverage for you and your dependents, 401(k) with company match, equity grants, access to financial wellness tools and planning resources, wellness benefits, family support programs, life and disability insurance, paid leave programs, company-designated paid holidays, discretionary time off (DTO), and an end-of-year company shutdown. Some of these benefits have eligibility requirements and may vary based on location, role, or employment status. Many of these benefits are subsidized or fully paid for by the company. 

The estimated annual base salary range for this role is: 

Zone 1
$167,800$197,200 USD
Zone 2
$151,100$177,500 USD
Zone 3
$134,300$157,800 USD
Zone 4
$117,500$138,000 USD

Skills Required

  • Master's degree or above in Mechanical, Optomechanical, or Packaging Engineering or relevant discipline.
  • Minimum 5 years experience focused on optomechanical design, optoelectronic or photonics packaging, or precision mechanical systems.
  • Strong design skills in mechanics of materials, thermodynamics, electronics integration, optical alignment, and precision design principles.
  • Expertise with GD&T for precision optomechanical interfaces, datums, fixtures, and inspection plans.
  • Expertise with tolerance analysis methods for optical alignment, mechanical stack-up, FAU attach, and package interfaces.
  • Experience executing DFMEA, PFMEA, CTQ mapping, and risk analysis heat maps.
  • Experience with Design for Manufacturability and Design for Assembly and creating supplier-ready build documentation.
  • Comfortable with PDM / Arena, ECO discipline, drawing release, revision control, and supplier documentation packages.
  • Ability to design and fabricate fixtures and test setups for alignment, attach, metrology, handling, and verification.
  • Ability to perform basic structural, thermal, warpage, and tolerance analyses to down-select designs and reduce build risk.
  • Experience with BOM generation and configuration-controlled package documentation and specification/drawing trees.
  • Strong communication and interpersonal skills across engineering, operations, quality, and supplier teams.
  • Experience with subcontractor management, supplier technical coordination, and manufacturing partner support.
  • Ability to execute deliverables against schedule and quality targets in a fast-moving productization environment.
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The Company
HQ: Palo Alto, California
265 Employees
Year Founded: 2015

What We Do

Quantum computing will be a world-changing technology with the potential to unlock powerful advances in medicine, energy, finance and beyond. At PsiQuantum, we’re focused on building the world’s first useful quantum computer. A useful quantum computer requires at least 1,000,000 qubits and error correction. We believe photonics is the only path to building a useful quantum computer. Our team at PsiQuantum is a mix of quantum physicists, semiconductor, systems, and software engineers, system architects and more. Error correction is at the centre of everything we do; and we focus on solving real-world problems. If you’re interested in joining our team, we are always open to hearing from exceptional people interested in working on one of the defining technologies of our lifetime.

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