Principal Foundry Quality Engineer - Fremont, CA, United States
Originally posted 5 October 2026 by the employer.
This role focuses on Silicon Photonic PIC Products.
About the role
This role involves leading the development of predictive quality methodologies and comprehensive foundry quality processes for Silicon Photonic PIC Products.
What you'll do
- Lead the development of predictive quality methodologies aligning PCM data with device designs, wafer-level test results, reliability performance, and factory yields.
- Partner with internal engineering teams and external wafer foundries to develop and implement comprehensive foundry quality processes and procedures.
- Utilize Quality Metrics and KPIs from die testing and transceiver assembly/test sites to derive predictive quality metrics and drive preventive measures.
- Apply AI and big data techniques to analyze foundry quality data, predict trends, and recommend corrective actions.
- Perform quality and process audits of new and existing foundries to assess compliance to industry standards and product quality and reliability risk.
- Lead root cause investigations and collaborate with process integration, device engineering, reliability, and foundry teams to implement corrective actions, drive specification changes, and resolve process issues.
What you'll need
- BS/MS/PhD in Material Science, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent field.
- 5+ years of experience in CMOS or Silicon Photonics foundry process technology development, foundry technology interface, or related fields and technology nodes.
- Proficiency in Semiconductor Device Physics and Defect Mechanism analysis.
- Proficiency in analytical tools for data analysis.
- Familiarity with optical device manufacturing.
Nice to have
- Familiarity with Lasers
- Familiarity with Modulators
- Familiarity with Photodetectors
- Familiarity with Optical switches
- Familiarity with Co-packaged optics
- Familiarity with Optical transceivers
Skills: foundry quality, predictive quality, reliability performance, root cause investigations, DfQnR, Silicon Photonic PIC
This role has been open 4 days — well below the 59-day median for Reliability Engineering roles.
Reliability Engineering · Reliability Engineering
|
Open roles in category
430
|
Median days open
59 d
|
Median salary
$158k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Coherent Corp | All employers we track in this specialty (430 roles · 71 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 3 | 430 |
| Open roles in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family | 134 | 9796 · 108 employers |
| Median days open | 23 d | 59 d (−36 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $158k |
Skills observed across this category: foundry quality, predictive quality, reliability performance, root cause investigations, DfQnR, Silicon Photonic PIC
Who's hiring in this category
- Micron Technology · 74 open roles · median 149 d
- Infineon Technologies · 30 open roles · median 44 d
- Analog Devices · 21 open roles · median 52 d
- onsemi · 20 open roles · median 67 d
- Intel Corporation · 17 open roles · median 36 d
- Renesas Electronics · 17 open roles · median 77 d
How we counted: 430 open Reliability Engineering (Reliability Engineering) roles from 71 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 9 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 Process, Fab & Equipment family row. Figures refresh nightly.