Mechanical Designer/Engineer - Airborne Optical Systems

(Early Career)

Burlington ON

To be considered for a position at PVLabs, candidates must be eligible to meet the requirements of Canada’s Controlled Goods Program under the Defence Production Act and be able to obtain and maintain the security clearances required for their work. If you are unsure about your eligibility, please consult the Government of Canada website HERE.

About the Role

At PVLabs, a mechanical design has a job to do beyond looking good on a screen. It must hold an optical alignment, support a moving assembly, manage heat, survive vibration—and still make sense to the person who has to build it. A small mechanical decision can have a very visible effect on the image our customer sees.

We build advanced airborne imaging systems used worldwide in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, public safety, search and rescue, government, and motion picture applications. Our work brings mechanics, optics, electronics, controls and software together into systems that must perform while the world around them is moving.

We are seeking an early-career Mechanical Designer/Engineer with strong fundamentals, curiosity about physical systems, and the instincts of someone who likes making things work. You will design parts, small assemblies, fixtures and packaging features, and carry out defined analysis and test work within an established product architecture.

You will have meaningful ownership, with experienced engineers close enough to challenge your thinking and help you develop it. You are not expected to arrive with every answer. You are expected to understand your work, check your assumptions, ask for help when needed, and follow through on the commitments others are counting on.

About the Responsibilities

Your contribution will grow as you learn our systems and demonstrate that your work can be trusted. These stages describe the progression we are looking for; the pace will depend on your experience and the work underway.

Starting now:

You will get familiar with our products, design practices and the people who turn engineering outputs into working hardware. Your early assignments will have clear boundaries: a component, fixture, drawing package, fit check or defined analysis. You will learn how we manage models, drawings and revisions, and how to bring work to a review with your reasoning ready—not just your CAD file open.

At 3 months in:

You will begin carrying defined assignments from requirements through design, review and verification with growing independence. You will bring manufacturing and assembly input into your decisions earlier, explain your tolerance choices, and connect calculations or test results to the requirement they support. Your estimates and progress updates should give the team a useful picture of what is finished, what remains and where help is needed.

At 6 months and onward:

You will take on more interconnected parts and assemblies, support prototype builds, and investigate mechanical or interface problems using measurements, evidence and structured thinking. Similar assignments should require less corrective oversight as you apply what you have learned. Greater responsibility will follow demonstrated judgment, dependable delivery and an understanding of how your decisions affect the wider system.

About the Details

• Translate defined requirements, interfaces and constraints into practical mechanical concepts, detailed designs and reviewable engineering outputs.
• Create dependable three-dimensional CAD models, assemblies, part and assembly drawings, and accurate bills of materials using established naming, revision and release practices.
• Apply approved datum structures, GD&T and tolerance schemes, including basic tolerance stacks that account for assembly, alignment and inspection.
• Use engineering calculations, simplified models and established structural, vibration or thermal analysis methods. Check loads, units, assumptions, boundary conditions and whether the results make physical sense.
• Turn assigned requirements into inspection or test steps with clear acceptance criteria, safe setups, known hardware configuration and useful recorded results.
• Design with materials and manufacturing processes in mind, including machining, sheet metal, additive manufacturing, casting, composites, fastening and bonding. Bring in specialist advice when a process is unfamiliar.
• Work with engineering, manufacturing and suppliers to address build, inspection and service concerns before they become avoidable rework.
• Support prototype assembly, fit checks, measurements and troubleshooting. Establish what caused a problem and verify that the correction worked.
• Break work into achievable steps, provide realistic estimates and keep dependencies, remaining effort and risks visible. A missed deadline should never be the team’s first indication that something was off track.
• Participate actively in design reviews, explain your decisions and uncertainties, and apply feedback to the next iteration.
• Keep design notes, calculations and test records complete, consistent and controlled so someone else can understand and use your work.
• Take responsibility when something goes wrong: contain the impact, establish the facts, seek the right help and follow the correction through to completion.

Key Requirements

• A degree or diploma in Mechanical, Aerospace, Mechatronics or a related engineering discipline, or equivalent demonstrated technical capability.
• Approximately one to two years of relevant professional experience. Co-op placements, internships, student design teams and substantial hands-on projects can strengthen your application; demonstrated capability matters more than time served.
• Working capability in SolidWorks or comparable three-dimensional CAD software, including creating models, assemblies and clear technical drawings.
• Evidence of applying mechanical fundamentals to actual designs, calculations, builds or tests.
• Some hands-on experience assembling, measuring, testing or troubleshooting physical hardware.
• An understanding of materials, manufacturing processes and how design choices affect the ability to build and inspect a part.
• Examples of learning something unfamiliar, responding to feedback and improving subsequent work.
• The ability to explain your progress honestly, make a developing risk visible early and help establish a realistic way forward.

You do not need a long software list. We are more interested in sound fundamentals, careful use of the tools you know, and your ability to learn the ones you need.

Key "Nicetohavements"

• Experience with precision mechanical, electro-mechanical or opto-mechanical systems, aerospace, robotics, automotive or industrial automation.
• Exposure to GD&T, tolerance analysis, PDM or other configuration-controlled design practices.
• Machining, fabrication, additive manufacturing, composites, metrology or design-for-manufacture experience.
• As part of your application, please remember the word Stabilize. You will be asked for it later in the process.
• Introductory structural, vibration, fatigue or thermal analysis, particularly where you have compared predictions with physical test results.
• Experience supporting prototype builds, environmental testing, suppliers or production troubleshooting.

About You as a Mechanical Designer/Engineer

You want to understand why a design works, what could cause it to fail, and how to make it better. You enjoy the point where an idea becomes something you can assemble, measure and test.

You ask thoughtful questions and make good use of the answers. You care about detail, but you also understand that engineering happens within shared commitments. Someone is waiting for your drawing, your part or your test result, and how you manage that work matters.

You can take a challenge to your design without treating it as a challenge to you. When you are uncertain, you say so. When you make a mistake, you help resolve it. As your experience grows, the team sees that learning reflected in better decisions and more dependable work.

What’s in It for You?

PVLabs is where mechanical engineering becomes airborne capability. We move fast, build things that fly, and don’t do ego—we do execution. You’ll work at the intersection of great ideas and real-world constraints, helping turn precision optical and electro-mechanical designs into systems customers trust.

You’ll learn from experienced specialists while being trusted with outcomes that matter. You will see how your mechanical decisions affect optical performance, stabilization, electronics, manufacturing and the people who build and operate our systems. As your judgment grows, so will the work you can own.

We run on autonomy, mastery, and purpose—with a year-round 4-day work week, performance over presence, and every employee a shareholder. You’ll join very smart, highly motivated people solving hard problems in stabilization, optics, motion control, and imaging tech.

If you want to grow your engineering career by learning from some of the best in the industry and building some of the most elegantly-designed airborne imaging systems, this is where you’ll do your best work.