Optical Systems Engineer

Optical Systems Engineer
RAL Space: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Harwell, Oxfordshire
Salary: Band D £31,931 - £34,709 to Band E £39,748 - £44,166 per annum(dependent on skills and experience)*
Contract Type: Open-Ended X2
Hours: Full-Time or Part-Time (We understand the importance of work-life balance, and are happy to discuss the possibility of flexible working with applicants)

*A Specialist Allowance of up to £1,000 per annum is also available for this role.

Come and do the kind of engineering that made you want to be an engineer. Stretch your technical skills while building human understanding. Promote sustainability and create new materials. And, alongside world-leading scientists and technologists, shape projects that improve lives, and daily life, in the UK and far beyond.

Put simply, come, and discover the impact you can make when you're equipped, encouraged, and inspired to perform to your very best.

RAL Space carries out an exciting range of world-class space research and technology development. We have had significant involvement in over 200 space missions and are at the forefront of UK space research. The Optical Systems Group is responsible for the conception, design, development, and test of optical systems for space instrumentation in Earth Observation, Planetary and Solar space science missions, and space optical communications. The work includes early-stage concept development through to design, development and potentially mission support. In addition, RAL Space has involvement in some ground-based work including the UK's Astronomy programme. The emphasis of our work is on the design and engineering of new, one-off, state-of-the-art instrumentation. RAL Space current projects with significant optical engineering requirements, include: 1. ARIEL (an Exoplanet mission for ESA), and 2. Quantum Communications cube-sat projects, such as Speqtre and QComms-hub

You will work within project teams comprising the different engineering disciplines needed for the development of the instrument hardware for such missions. The work covers the full life cycle of optical instrument development, from early conceptual design work through to analysis, then build, test, calibration, and reporting on the final working instruments for delivery to spacecraft.

Responsibilities

• Working with science teams to develop instrument requirements.
• Design, optimisation, tolerancing and analysis of optical systems.
• Developing instrument performance models involving for example radiometry, imaging and spectral resolution, manufacturing and alignment tolerances, and calibration methods.
• Stray-light modelling and the design of baffle systems
• Specification and procurement of optical components, and support of opto-mechanical design.
• Assembly, alignment and testing of space optical systems.
• Design and construction of optical test and calibration equipment.

Person Specification

• Degree in optics, physics or a related discipline.
• Experience in optical design and analysis, including techniques of optimisation and tolerancing.
• Experience with developing and building optical instrumentation, including specification and procurement.
• Experienced in optical alignment and performance measurement techniques.
• Must be able to travel and work outside of the UK for short periods.

We ask some of the biggest questions in the universe, to answer some of the biggest challenges in the world. Together, our scientists, technologists, engineers and business-support team explore the unknown across every field you could think of, and they turn what they find into work that changes the world around us.

What could you achieve with the world-leading facilities and experts of one of Europe's largest research organisations by your side? Join us and discover what's possible.

STFC values their employees by offering a benefits package designed to provide an excellent work/life balance. This includes 30 days' annual leave, 10.5 public and privilege holidays, flexible working hours, a workplace nursery, exceptional average salary pension scheme, social and sporting activities and societies and a subsidised restaurant.

Applicants who are unable to apply online should contact us by telephone on 07710 115815.

The closing date for applications is 5th March 2023.