Optical Design Engineer
UKRI- STFC
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot
£37,789 - £44,988 (dependent on skills and experience and inclusive of annual allowance
Full time/Part Time considered with a minimum of 22.2 hours
Open ended
About Us
The Science & Technology Facilities Council is a partner organisation within UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a new entity that brings together nine partners to create an independent organisation with a strong voice for research and innovation, and a vision to ensure the UK maintains its world-leading position in research and innovation.
RAL Space has a vacancy for two experienced Optical Systems Engineers that can ‘hit the ground running’ when they arrive and then quickly get up to speed, as they will be expected to be the lead optics person on projects.
About the role
The Optical Systems Engineer’s responsibilities may include:
- developing concepts and designs for ground based astronomy and a variety of optical satellite instruments in the wavelength range from the extreme UV to the sub-millimetre
- working with science teams to develop requirements
- design, optimisation, tolerancing and analysis of optical systems
- specification and procurement of optical components and supporting opto-mechanical systems
- assembly, alignment and testing of optical systems
- design and construction of optical test and calibration equipment
- developing instrument performance models involving knowledge of radiometric errors, image and spectral resolution, calibration, manufacturing and alignment tolerances
- stray-light modelling and the design of baffling systems
- liaising with the supporting engineering disciplines to ensure that performance is maintained during the development of the electronics, mechanical and thermal aspects of the instrument
- documentation of design, build procedures and test results
- presentation and justification of your optical designs to the science and project teams
- proposal preparation.
About you
You will be educated to degree level in optics, physics or a related discipline.
You will have experience in optical design, optimisation, analysis, tolerancing and procurement.
You will also have experience of developing and building optical instrumentation, as well as optical alignment and measurement techniques.
Experience of using industry standard optical design tools e.g. CodeV, Zemax, ASAP would be beneficial.
Understanding of the design challenges of instruments operating under severe environmental conditions and further optics training e.g. MSc in Optics, SPIE and other short courses will be desirable.
What we offer
In addition to the competitive salary, an excellent index linked pension scheme and generous leave allowance are offered. Full details of offered benefits can be found on STFC’s careers pages (http://www.stfccareers.co.uk).
To enable us to hire the very best people we will conduct a full and comprehensive background and pre-employment check as an essential part of the recruitment process.
How to Apply
Applicants are required to include a cover letter outlining their suitability for this role.
Applications are handled by UK Shared Business Services, to apply please click the apply button. Applicants who are unable to apply online should contact us by telephone on +44 (0)1793 867000.
The closing date for applications is 19th August 2018.