Staff Optomechanical Engineer

Halo Industries has invented a technology to replace a decades-old semiconductor material slicing process that wastes billions of dollars annually.

Halo’s laser-based technology eliminates this waste, delivering improvements in both material cost and performance, while enabling manufacturing advancements in a diverse set of high-growth applications markets, including the automotive, grid infrastructure, telecommunications and power electronics sectors.

Halo originally spun out of Stanford University in 2014, acquiring a significant A round of VC funding in 2020 following the successful demonstration of the company’s precision material slicing equipment.

Halo is currently defining the foundation for its planned volume manufacturing operations, building a passionate team to meet its next milestone of deploying the company’s first fully integrated production line.

Halo Industries is well-funded, engaged with strategic customers, and staged to achieve rapid operational, revenue, and valuation growth.

The Opportunity

The evolution of Halo’s technology and equipment, growing from an R&D focus to a production manufacturing environment, has triggered the aggressive growth of the company’s mechanical and optomechanical engineering teams.

Candidates for the staff optomechanical engineering position will have had experience with the design and productization of systems leveraging optical components. Candidates should have previous project leadership experience. People leadership experience is a plus.

Candidates will have the following job responsibilities:

• Design, build, and test high-precision optomechanical R&D and production manufacturing equipment, starting from initial process conceptualization through to production deployment on factory floors
• Responsible for the design of optomechanical systems and components for laser processing tools from concept to production with a focus on stability and manufacturability
• Modeling, prototyping, evaluating, and characterizing optical elements and mounting strategies for next generation optical systems
• Work with fabricators, using DFM principles to achieve economical designs
• Work with external vendors to integrate off-the-shelf hardware with custom-designed components
• Conduct root cause analysis of test failures and production issues to improve performance
• Work in a small team, and contribute to the implementation of next generation high-tech materials manufacturing equipment

Requirements

Preferred Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering with 10+ years of applicable experience. Candidates with Masters and PhD degrees may qualify with fewer years of experience.

What We’re Looking For

Experience and skills in the following areas are desired:

• Strong CAD modeling proficiency (preferably Solidworks)
• Strong hands-on experience designing, assembling, and testing equipment across a variety of engineering disciplines, particularly industrial and manufacturing equipment
• Strong experience with and broad knowledge of optomechanical design, including system design and optics mounting
• Proficiency with GD&T principles and standards and experience performing tolerance stackup analysis
• Proficiency with engineering properties of materials and structural members, including mechanical and thermal properties
• Structural and thermal FEA experience
• Experience designing tight-tolerance optomechanical systems (electromechanical systems is a plus)
• Familiarity with precision engineering concepts such as micropositioning, kinematic design, dynamic system analysis, thermal compensation, etc.
• Hands-on fabrication/prototyping experience, such as machining and additive manufacturing - knowledge or experience with forming, welding, molding and casting a bonus
• Outstanding detail-oriented analytical, creative, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to think critically to diagnose issues and optimize complex processes
• Ability to work self-sufficiently with minimal oversight
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to work effectively within an interdisciplinary team

Bonus

• Experience in machine design for high precision industries (i.e. semiconductors, imaging, life sciences)
• Past startup experience and insights/lessons learned on effectively scaling from R&D to production

• Expertise in automation design (motor sizing, actuator design, sensor selection, etc.)

Benefits

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Plan (401k, IRA)
• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
• Free Food & Snacks
• Stock Option Plan
• Short Term & Long Term Disability
• Base salary $140,000 to $170,000