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K2 Space is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, backed by over $1 billion in funding from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, ICONIQ, Kleiner Perkins, and others. The company has over $1 billion in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers and is mass-producing high-power satellite platforms for missions from LEO to deep space.
As an Optomechanical Engineer, you will own the design and build of precision optomechanical structures that hold optical payloads together in the space environment. This is a mechanically-focused role at the intersection of structures and optics, where you will mount lenses and mirrors, design the structures that support them, and ensure the optical system holds its alignment through launch, thermal cycling, and on-orbit operation.
Key responsibilities include:
- Design optomechanical assemblies including optical benches, mirror mounts, lens cells, and support structures from conceptual design through qualification to on-orbit operations
- Own mounting and alignment of lenses and mirrors, selecting and designing mounting schemes (kinematic/semi-kinematic mounts, flexures, bonded interfaces)
- Design mirror support structures with attention to jitter, dynamic stability, mount-induced deformation, and thermal stability (CTE matching, athermalization, gradient management)
- Own optical alignment and stability budgets, translating wavefront and pointing requirements into mechanical constraints
- Partner closely with optical engineers while maintaining focus on mechanical design, structural performance, and hardware realization
In your first 6 months, you will define optomechanical requirements, create initial concepts and trades, perform preliminary and detailed analysis, define development test campaigns, and produce development hardware. In your first year, you will validate designs through prototype iterations and build and qualify flight hardware. In your first two years, you will fly your hardware in space while directly supporting production and integration. K2 plans multiple launches in 2027 and aims to scale to 100 satellites per year.
