R&D Scientist, Mechanical

Job Title: Staff R&D Scientist, Mechanical

Reports to: Chief Technology Officer

FLSA Status: Full time, Regular, Salary, Exempt

Supervisory Responsibility: None; individual contributor

At Dimer Instruments we’re creating the next generation of laboratory and process analytical tools for the pharmaceutical market. Our products use multiple light-based spectroscopic methods to interrogate solutions containing molecules and particles, providing researchers not just with data but with organized information allowing them to make informed decisions, and providing automated Process systems with the feedback required for Quality by Design.

At Dimer you’ll be working with a high-quality, high-performing, highly collaborative, and enjoyable team of Engineers and Scientists to create products that make a difference in the world. We have fun while we’re creating great products.

The Staff R&D Scientist, Mechanical is the senior mechanical mind on a team building precision scientific instruments. This is a hands-on research and development role for someone who is equally comfortable deriving the governing equations, cutting the parts, and running the experiment that proves the design works. Reporting to the CTO, the Staff R&D Scientist, Mechanical will invent and develop precision mechanical and electro-mechanical systems (e.g., micron-level adjustable opto-mechanical assemblies, thermal and motion subsystems, sheet metal and chassis structures, injection‑molded parts, and motorized moving elements) and will own system‑level architecture and integration across the mechanical, optical, electrical, thermal, and software subsystems that make up a Dimer instrument.

The role spans the full arc of product development: initial math, analysis, and simulation; mechanism and measurement‑system design; proof‑of‑concept prototypes; system prototypes; transfer from R&D into Manufacturing; and support of product release and early rapid improvement. We are looking for someone who is scientifically rigorous, able to theoretically understand and experimentally tease apart subtle contributors to instrument performance, and also action‑oriented, arriving at quick, practical, and manufacturable solutions.

The instruments you design must produce research‑grade data and survive the real world: shipped to Japan or Europe without falling out of alignment, and operating reliably in sometimes non‑ideal laboratory conditions.

This role is a strong fit for a mechanical, robotics, mechatronics, or precision‑engineering Ph.D. who wants to keep doing research‑caliber work on a product that ships. Candidates from robotics, medical device, aerospace, semiconductor equipment, and other precision instrument backgrounds are encouraged to apply; experience with our specific measurement modalities is not required. The successful candidate will not shy away from the sometimes less glamorous work of writing assembly and alignment work instructions, building manufacturing tools (which can be complicated instruments in their own right), and contributing to user documentation.

They will be highly collaborative, both with Dimer staff across the organization and with external researchers, and willing to present the science and engineering behind Dimer products at conferences, trade shows, customer sites, and for internal training.

• Invent, model, and experimentally demonstrate novel mechanical and electro-mechanical mechanisms that solve measurement problems, carrying concepts from first principles through proof of concept and into production designs.
• Generate expert-level mechanical engineering designs for research, development, and sustaining efforts, including tolerance analysis and finite…