Space Optical Payload AIT Lead

Role Purpose 

Lead the controlled assembly, integration, verification and environmental-test readiness of a flight optical payload from precision optical/mechanical subassemblies through telescope–Camera integration, payload characterization and delivery.  
The role owns AIT execution, technical readiness, configuration traceability, test evidence and anomaly closure for a high-performance Earth-observation imaging instrument. 

About the Team 

You’ll join a tight, multidisciplinary payload group that owns the MSI instrument end-to-end: mission-driven requirements, optical/opto-mechanical design, camera + control electronics, firmware/FPGA, and hands-on integration & testing. We operate like a true startup engineering squad: direct communication, rapid problem-solving, and shared ownership. Decisions are made with a systems mindset, and plans turn into hardware quickly. Expect deep collaboration with data, business, and spacecraft teams as we mature the payload from prototype to flight-ready hardware. 

This is a dynamic, hands-on role. Priorities, interfaces and test plans will evolve as hardware and programme maturity advance. The successful candidate is adaptable, calm under pressure, comfortable moving between detailed shop-floor execution and system-level decision-making, and able to create practical structure without slowing development momentum. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Own the payload AIT plan, integration flow, verification matrix, test schedule, resource/GSE readiness and risk register. 
  

• Lead optical and opto-mechanical assembly, precision alignment, shimming, bonding, torque-controlled installation, cleanliness control and as-built metrology. 
  

• Lead AIT of the payload to Satellite structure with high precision.  
  

• Lead telescope and camera performance verification: wavefront/interferometry, focus, boresight, MTF, PSF, EFFL, distortion, resolution, radiometry/RSR and image-quality characterization. 
  

• Lead OFE-to-CE integration: FPA alignment, thermal/mechanical interfaces, harnessing, grounding/bonding, detector checkout, timing/data interfaces, firmware compatibility and image acquisition. 
  

• Plan and execute functional, vibration, shock and TVAC campaigns, including pre-/post-environmental baselines and optical re-verification. 
  

• Define, review and execute controlled procedures, travellers, test data sheets and reports; ensure traceability from requirement to raw data and acceptance result. 
  

• Chair or support TRRs, MRRs, pre-test/post-test reviews and daily AIT reviews; make evidence-based go/no-go recommendations. 
  

• Lead anomaly containment, NCR/discrepancy investigation, root-cause analysis coordination, corrective actions and re-test closure. 
  

• Coordinate closely with optical, mechanical, electronics, thermal, software/FPGA, quality, spacecraft, supplier and external test-house teams. 
  

• Build a disciplined but agile AIT culture: identify issues early, prioritise non-destructive diagnostics, communicate directly and adapt plans while protecting flight configuration and quality. 
  
  

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Optical, Mechanical, Aerospace, Electronics Engineering, Physics or related discipline. 
  

• 8+ years in precision optical, electro-optical or space-hardware integration and test; demonstrated leadership of complex AIT/AIV activities preferred. 
  

• Hands-on experience in optical alignment, opto-mechanical assembly, optical metrology and test-data analysis. 
  

• Working knowledge of telescope/imaging metrics: WFE, MTF, PSF, EFFL, distortion, focus, boresight, radiometry and spectral response. 
  

• Experience with cleanroom practice, contamination control, calibrated test equipment, configuration management and formal test documentation. 
  

• Strong systems thinking, practical troubleshooting ability, clear technical writing and confidence leading multidisciplinary technical reviews. 
  

Desirable 

• Experience with space telescope systems. 
  

• Interferometry, CGH/null testing, autocollimators, alignment telescopes/theodolites, CMM/laser tracker metrology. 
  

• Detector and FPGA/electronics integration. 
  

• Ground support equipment design and selection 
  

• TVAC and vibration testing. 
  

• ECSS/ISRO/NASA-derived quality and verification practices. 
  

• Python-based test automation or data analysis.