Senior Opto-Mechanical Engineer - Milpitas, CA, United States
$111,850 - $186,400 USD yearly
Originally posted 14 September 2026 by the employer.
About the role
As a Senior Opto-Mechanical Engineer, you will contribute to the design and continuous improvement of laser systems from initial concept through detailed design, integration, and successful product implementation. This role involves developing nanosecond, picosecond, and femtosecond lasers.
What you'll do
- Lead and support the design, integration, testing, and qualification of laser products and subsystems.
- Translate product requirements into opto-mechanical assembly designs.
- Define tooling and test strategies, build and test system prototypes, and measure optical and opto-electronic parameters.
- Lead structured root-cause investigations for product, manufacturing, and field failures.
- Work with optical components and precision mechanical parts vendors for procurement and performance evaluation.
What you'll need
- Bachelor’s degree in Optical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Photonics or a related technical discipline and 5+ years of industry experience or Master’s degree and 3+ years of experience.
- Expertise in opto-mechanical design and analysis.
- Proficiency with SolidWorks and SolidWorks PDM CAD software.
- Hands-on experience in testing, assembly, alignment, integration, or manufacturing of advanced laser or optical systems.
- Experience with optical measurement and characterization instrumentation and techniques.
- System-level troubleshooting, diagnostic skills, and experience with root-cause analysis methodologies (8D, 5-Why, Ishikawa).
Nice to have
- Industrial laser product development and transfer to manufacturing environment.
- Understanding of mechanical engineering principles for selection of materials and fabrication methods.
- Familiarity with particle and contamination control and knowledge of GD&T.
- Experience with thermal, structural, and flow analysis using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) in SolidWorks or Ansys.
- Familiarity with Gaussian beam propagation software tools and ray-tracing analysis software (ZEMAX, FRED).
- Experience with automated measurement and control methods (Python).
Skills: opto-mechanical design, laser products, SolidWorks, optical systems, FEA
This role has been open 30 days — well below the 48-day median for Semiconductor Equipment Engineering roles.
Semiconductor Equipment Engineering · Optical Laser Systems
|
Open roles in category
41
|
Median days open
48 d
|
Median salary
$164k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | MKS Instruments | All employers we track in this specialty (41 roles · 10 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 6 | 41 |
| Open roles in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family | 83 | 9891 · 109 employers |
| Median days open | 107 d | 48 d (+59 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $164k |
Skills observed across this category: opto-mechanical design, laser products, SolidWorks, optical systems, FEA
Who's hiring in this category
- KLA Corporation · 14 open roles · median 112 d
- ASML · 8 open roles · median 12 d
- Applied Materials · 7 open roles · median 26 d
- MKS Instruments (this employer) · 6 open roles · median 107 d
- Aeva Technologies · 1 open role · median 71 d
- Camtek · 1 open role · median 114 d
How we counted: 41 open Semiconductor Equipment Engineering (Optical Laser Systems) roles from 10 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 Process, Fab & Equipment family row. Figures refresh nightly.