Originally posted 10 November 2026 by the employer.
About the role
As Principal Optical Engineer – Optical Metrology, you will define and build the free-space optical metrology capability for the optical processing unit. You will determine measurement requirements, construct test stations, and translate data into decisions across optical design, optomechanics, packaging, and manufacturing.
What you'll do
- Define the optical metrology roadmap across R&D, prototype builds, and volume production while setting measurement methods and uncertainty budgets.
- Flow system-level optical requirements and tolerance budgets down to measurable component and assembly specifications.
- Design, build, and validate optical test stations for interferometry, wavefront sensing, MTF, PSF, beam profiling, polarimetry, spectral transmission, reflectance, and stray light.
- Develop custom measurement methods for microlens arrays, covering lenslet-by-lenslet focal length, wavefront, and pointing, as well as camera-based metrology for spot position and pitch.
- Establish calibration, traceability, gauge R&R, and data pipelines to translate raw measurements into pass/fail results and feedback for tolerance models.
- Define incoming inspection methods, correlate measurements with suppliers, and transfer test stations to assembly partners and contract manufacturers.
What you'll need
- PhD or M.S. in Optical Sciences, Optical Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
- 10+ years of hands-on optical metrology and test experience, including building measurement capability for precision optical products from development through production.
- Expertise in interferometry, wavefront sensing, and image-quality measurement (MTF, PSF, distortion), alongside working knowledge of polarimetry and radiometry.
- Demonstrated experience designing custom test stations, including optics, mechanics, calibration, software, and quantifying measurement uncertainty.
- Grounding in physical and Fourier optics, aberration theory, and Gaussian beam propagation.
- Proficiency in Python or MATLAB for instrument control, image processing, and data analysis.
- Working knowledge of optical design tools such as Zemax OpticStudio or CODE V to model test setups and relate measurements to tolerances.
Nice to have
- Experience with infrared metrology, including infrared cameras.
- Experience supporting active alignment, selecting alignment metrics, and verifying aligned assemblies.
- Experience setting up production test and incoming inspection with contract manufacturers and optics suppliers, including statistical process control.
- Experience with near-field and far-field fiber-mode measurement and coupling-efficiency testing.
- Experience in a startup or early-stage hardware team building out lab infrastructure.
More semiconductor jobs: Hardware design jobs · Austin jobs
First seen in our index 0 days ago, well below the 47-day median for Hardware Systems Engineering roles.
Hardware Systems Engineering · AI ML Hardware
|
Open roles in category
1134
|
Median days since first seen
47 d
|
Category median salary (all employers)
$148k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Neurophos | All employers we track in this specialty (1134 roles · 108 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 2 | 1134 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 8 | 6598 · 157 employers |
| Median days since first seen | 0 d | 47 d (+47 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | n/a | $148k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Intel Corporation · 87 open roles · median 35 d
- KLA Corporation · 66 open roles · median 61 d
- NVIDIA · 59 open roles · median 76 d
- Teradyne · 59 open roles · median 52 d
- ASML · 58 open roles · median 19 d
- Applied Materials · 57 open roles · median 42 d
How we counted: 1134 open Hardware Systems Engineering (AI ML Hardware) roles from 108 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 10 Nov 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there, and is counted in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Days are counted from when our index first saw each posting, not from the employer's original posting date.