Principal Mechanical Engineer

Introduction to the Job

In this role, you will serve as a principal technical leader for optomechanical architecture and design across new product development and sustaining engineering initiatives. You will collaborate closely with optical, mechanical, systems, controls, thermal, manufacturing, service, quality, and supplier teams to deliver stable, precise, reliable, and manufacturable optomechanical solutions throughout the product lifecycle. Based in San Diego, California, you will provide technical leadership for Cymer’s Light Conditioning Function team.

You will guide complex module development, introduce new technologies, sustain and improve released products, and influence engineering roadmaps five to seven years ahead. You will help define the future of precision engineering while ensuring existing products remain reliable, manufacturable, serviceable, and responsive to customer needs.

• Lead the specification, architecture, design, integration, and validation of complex optomechanical modules and subsystems for new and existing product platforms.
• Develop technology roadmaps and guide research, feasibility studies, sustaining strategies, and long-term engineering decisions.
• Direct multidisciplinary engineering teams through concept development, detailed design, testing, production introduction, release, and ongoing product support.
• Design mechanical and optomechanical parts, assemblies, fixtures, and alignment solutions using sound engineering principles.
• Perform tolerance analysis, finite element analysis, and system-level troubleshooting to resolve performance, reliability, manufacturing, and field challenges.
• Lead root cause investigations and corrective actions for production, field, and customer-reported issues.
• Develop and implement design improvements that enhance product performance, reliability, manufacturability, serviceability, safety, and cost effectiveness.
• Support engineering change requests, component obsolescence management, configuration control, and lifecycle planning for released products.
• Use system performance data, manufacturing feedback, service insights, and customer needs to identify improvement opportunities and mitigate technical risk.
• Partner with suppliers, manufacturing, service, quality, and supply chain teams to support prototypes, fabrication, testing, production continuity, and sustained product performance.
• Provide technical leadership for new technology introductions, product upgrades, retrofit solutions, and improvements to existing products and platforms.
• Mentor engineers, share technical knowledge, and challenge conventional approaches to drive innovation and continuous improvement.

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or a related engineering discipline.
• 10–15 years of relevant engineering experience, including advanced mechanical design, system integration, technical leadership, and product lifecycle responsibilities.
• A master’s degree or doctoral degree in mechanical engineering or a related field is preferred.
• Experience designing machined, sheet metal, molded, additive-manufactured, and flexure-based components and assemblies.
• Proficiency with three-dimensional computer-aided design software and detailed engineering drawings.
• Experience with PTC Creo is preferred.
• Experience with geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T), tolerance analysis, documentation control systems, and engineering change processes.
• Experience with finite element analysis involving structural, thermal, vibration, or fluid dynamics applications.
• Experience supporting released products through troubleshooting, root cause analysis, corrective action, design changes, reliability improvements, or obsolescence management.
• Exper…