Optical Assembly Technician
About the role
Responsible for R&D/Engineering project support and participating in optical manufacturing assembly in Santa Clara, CA. The role involves setting up optical alignment stations, handling and aligning optical components, and performing optical performance tests for WSS optical assemblies.
What you'll do
- Clean optical components under a microscope and visually inspect optics for cleanliness and defects.
- Set up, load, and unload optical alignment stations.
- Manually handle, align, and install optical components using adjustment fixtures while monitoring and balancing optical parameters to meet specifications.
- Conduct optical performance tests for WSS optical assembly.
- Apply and cure UV glues to secure optical components.
- Perform incoming inspections and enter numerical data into manufacturing software.
What you'll need
- 3+ years of experience in a fiber optics related field.
- Ability to visually inspect, clean, and manually handle optical components under a microscope.
- Proficiency in optical alignment and assembly using fixtures, hand tools, and test equipment.
- Basic reading and math skills, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
- Ability to work in an R&D engineering lab and manufacturing cleanroom environment while wearing plastic/latex gloves or finger cots.
Nice to have
- High school diploma or equivalent.
- Experience in optical alignment and assembly using fixtures, hand tools, and test equipment.
More semiconductor jobs: Coherent Corp jobs · Hardware design jobs · Santa Clara jobs
This role has been open 0 days — well below the 48-day median for Hardware Systems Engineering roles.
Hardware Systems Engineering · AI ML Hardware
|
Open roles in category
1054
|
Median days open
48 d
|
Category median salary (all employers)
$153k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Coherent Corp | All employers we track in this specialty (1054 roles · 101 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 17 | 1054 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 34 | 6266 · 144 employers |
| Median days open | 73 d | 48 d (+25 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $153k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Intel Corporation · 78 open roles · median 42 d
- Teradyne · 61 open roles · median 42 d
- KLA Corporation · 60 open roles · median 54 d
- Applied Materials · 51 open roles · median 59 d
- NVIDIA · 49 open roles · median 65 d
- ASML · 46 open roles · median 26 d
How we counted: 1054 open Hardware Systems Engineering (AI ML Hardware) roles from 101 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 30 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.