Principal Measurement & Test Engineer - Irvine, CA, United States
$115,000 - $180,000 USD yearly
Originally posted 11 September 2026 by the employer.
MKS Systems Irvine is seeking individuals like you to join our team as a Principal Measurement & Test Engineer.
About the role
This role involves the development, characterization, verification, qualification, troubleshooting, and sustaining of advanced optical, laser, fiber optic, opto-mechanical, and precision-engineered products. You will achieve this through the development and deployment of robust measurement and test solutions.
What you'll do
- Define, design, develop, and deploy measurement methodologies, calibration strategies, correlation methods, and measurement solutions.
- Define measurement system capability requirements, uncertainty budgets, performance targets, and acceptance criteria.
- Develop and support characterization, verification, and qualification methodologies.
- Develop measurement architectures, instrumentation strategies, automated data acquisition systems, and analysis solutions.
- Develop correlation methodologies and support implementation and troubleshooting of measurement and test solutions.
- Investigate and resolve measurement, correlation, test, and manufacturing issues through data-driven root-cause analysis.
What you'll need
- Bachelor’s degree or higher in Optical Engineering, Physics, Photonics, Applied Physics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or equivalent technical discipline.
- 8+ years of industry experience in measurement systems, test engineering, metrology, optical characterization, product verification, qualification, or related engineering disciplines.
- Understanding of calibration methodologies, uncertainty analysis, correlation studies, error budgeting, and measurement system performance.
- Experience developing and deploying measurement systems for optical, opto-mechanical, photonic, semiconductor, or precision-engineered products.
- Hands-on experience with optical instrumentation, optical metrology, laser beam analysis, optical characterization, interferometry, imaging systems, spectroscopy, fiber optic systems, precision positioning systems, or related precision measurement systems.
- Proficiency with Python, MATLAB, JMP, LabVIEW, Minitab, or equivalent software tools.
This role has been open 33 days — slightly above the 28-day median for Silicon Test Engineering roles.
Silicon Test Engineering · DFT Test
|
Open roles in category
542
|
Median days open
28 d
|
Median salary
$172k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | MKS Instruments | All employers we track in this specialty (542 roles · 76 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 2 | 542 |
| Open roles in the wider Silicon Validation & Test family | 3 | 2224 · 112 employers |
| Median days open | 51 d | 28 d (+23 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $172k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Teradyne · 72 open roles · median 27 d
- Renesas Electronics · 45 open roles · median 22 d
- Infineon Technologies · 41 open roles · median 37 d
- Micron Technology · 27 open roles · median 35 d
- Qualcomm · 27 open roles · median 27 d
- AMD · 25 open roles · median 42 d
How we counted: 542 open Silicon Test Engineering (DFT Test) roles from 76 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 15 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 Silicon Validation & Test family row. Figures refresh nightly.