Systems Engineer III - (E3) | Optics - Santa Clara, CA, United States
$138,000 - $190,000 USD yearly
Originally posted 5 October 2026 by the employer.
This role supports product development of a complex, high performance optical system.
About the role
This role involves designing, integrating, and optimizing complex systems that drive the semiconductor industry forward. You will contribute to the product development cycle of a high performance optical system, from specification and design support to verification and field support.
What you'll do
- Identify scope, constraints, and risks for design, fabrication, test, and volume production of optical subsystems.
- Use customer and system requirements to derive specifications for optical subsystems, modules, and components.
- Plan and execute optical alignment, calibration, and characterization of subsystems and full-system builds.
- Define and execute test plans for prototype acceptance and qualification of optical subsystems, modules, and components.
- Design and execute experiments (DOE) to validate optical performance and support concept and feasibility testing.
- Troubleshoot and root cause optical and system-level issues in manufacturing and the field.
- Develop and maintain optical test and metrology scripts and tooling for automated measurement.
What you'll need
- BS, MS, or PhD in Optics, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
- 2+ years of relevant experience with a BS, or 0+ years with an MS or PhD.
- Hands-on experience assembling, aligning, calibrating, and using opto-mechanical instrumentation or systems incorporating light sources, optical sensors, lenses, filters, and cameras.
- Solid understanding of geometric and physical optics, imaging, illumination, and optical metrology fundamentals.
- Experience with optical test and measurement equipment (power meters, spectrometers, interferometers, beam profilers, alignment tools).
- Experience designing and executing test plans and feasibility studies.
- Proficient with data analysis and visualization; programming or scripting experience such as Python or Matlab.
- Ability to read engineering drawings, optical prescriptions, and schematics.
Nice to have
- Optical modeling and simulation experience (Zemax OpticStudio, Code V, or similar).
- Experience with imaging systems, high-speed or line-scan cameras, laser-based systems, or metrology equipment.
- Image processing experience.
- SW automation experience and AI tools experience.
- Experience in semiconductor equipment, cleanroom environments, ESD, and contamination control practices.
- Experience supporting manufacturing and service organizations through documentation (procedures, OMS, BKMs) and training.
Skills: optical systems engineer, illumination, imaging optics, optical metrology, test plans, opto-mechanical instrumentation
This role has been open 3 days — well below the 50-day median for Semiconductor Equipment Engineering roles.
Semiconductor Equipment Engineering · Optical Laser Systems
|
Open roles in category
42
|
Median days open
50 d
|
Median salary
$161k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Applied Materials | All employers we track in this specialty (42 roles · 11 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 7 | 42 |
| Open roles in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family | 1090 | 9729 · 107 employers |
| Median days open | 21 d | 50 d (−29 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $161k |
Skills observed across this category: optical systems engineer, illumination, imaging optics, optical metrology, test plans, opto-mechanical instrumentation
Who's hiring in this category
- KLA Corporation · 13 open roles · median 120 d
- ASML · 9 open roles · median 6 d
- Applied Materials (this employer) · 7 open roles · median 20 d
- MKS Instruments · 6 open roles · median 101 d
- Aeva Technologies · 1 open role · median 65 d
- Camtek · 1 open role · median 108 d
How we counted: 42 open Semiconductor Equipment Engineering (Optical Laser Systems) roles from 11 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.