Instrumentation Alignment and Verification Engineer

The Systems Engineering Department comprises a team of 30 engineers, distributed over 3 groups. The department provides Systems Engineering expertise to ESO's projects, in particular for the development of the Extremely Large Telescope and its sub-systems and for the design and development of advanced optical and infrared instrumentation for the telescopes of ESO's La Silla-Paranal Observatory.

We are looking for a highly motivated and experienced instrumentation engineer / physicist with a strong background in system alignment and optical testing. You will be integrated in a team of experts responsible for the development, integration and verification of astronomical instrumentation from the first concepts, to the final product delivered to and tested at the observatory. The instruments span optical to thermal infrared wavelengths, a variety of world-class technologies, and may be deployed at La Silla, Paranal (VLT, VLTI, VISTA) or Armazones (ELT) observatories.

• Main Duties and Responsibilities:
• You will have the following main duties:
• Ensure the feasibility of instrument alignment approaches with respect to performance targets, cost, and manufacturability.
• Contribute to the definition of requirements and verification plans, ensuring comprehensive test coverage across development phases that balances risk mitigation and cost.
• Lead troubleshooting and root-cause analysis of performance deviations during integration and verification.
• Collaborate closely with key stakeholders, including systems engineers, AIV managers, and specialists in optics, mechanics, cryogenics, detectors, and software.
• Provide training and mentoring to junior engineers in alignment and optical t est methods, fostering knowledge transfer and appropriate documentation. Contribute to lessons-learned exercises and improving systems engineering processes.
• Reports to:
• The Head of the Instrument Systems Group.

• Experience:
• You shall have at least 5 years of experience in:
• Alignment and testing of optical instruments, including hands-on work in clean-room environments.
• Applying systems engineering good practices in the development of optical instruments or test equipment, especially in the verification activities.
• Working in multi-disciplinary and multi-national teams within large scientific or engineering projects.
• Key competences:
• Essential Competences and Experience
• Proven experience with metrology techniques, in particular laser tracker, theodolite, auto-collimator, and wavefront sensing with Shack-Hartman and interferometry techniques.
• Broad knowledge of optical & mechanical manufacturing, optical technologies, opto-mechanical engineering, testing / characterization / calibration methods used in optical and infrared instrumentation. Experience in the context of cryogenic instruments, mechanisms and/or seismic/vibration-prone environments is an asset.
• Proven ability in building strong, effective relationships across cultures and disciplines, both within and outside the organization, and to foster consensus while keeping the project objectives in focus. Very good communication skills.
• Desirable competences:
• Familiarity with AIT activities at astronomical observatories or large-scale integration facilities.
• Ability to analyse instrument performances and develop supporting tools.
• Experience with scientific programming languages (e.g., Python, R, Matlab) for data analysis and test automation.
• Experience with optical simulation / modeling tools (e.g. Zemax OpticStudio, Code V, FRED) is an asset.
• Qualifications:
• MSc or PhD in Physics, Optical Engineering, Astronomy, or a closely related field.
• Additional training or certification in systems engineering or project management is an asset.
• Language Skills:
• ESO is an international organization where the working language is English. The position requires excellent oral and written communication skills in English.