Software Engineer

Ephos; Lombardia; On-site; EUR 40,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Job summary

Ephos is building a new fabrication facility in Milan to scale production of photonic integrated circuits. You will join a team responsible for software that runs the fab, from pilot to production, establishing standards for technologies, testing, and documentation.

You will own projects, write libraries, and develop a GUI and API to coordinate fabrication lines, with an emphasis on architecture and reliability. On-site role based in Milan; remote work is not considered.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience in computer science or related field.
• 3+ years of professional software engineering in an industrial or production setting.
• Experience writing libraries from the ground up, including system architecture and technology selection.
• Advanced experience with version control in a collaborative environment (reviewing PRs, resolving merge conflicts, navigating code history).
• Strong testing experience: unit and integration tests and fostering a testing culture.
• Proficiency in Python; full-stack development or other languages a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve internal and client-facing libraries with emphasis on architecture and long-term maintainability.
• Build the orchestrator that runs fabrication lines, coordinating stages, lasers, and sensors, with GUI and API for MES integration.
• Set up and help run a ticketing system for engineering requests.
• Write runbooks and documentation for key software in the manufacturing process.
• Build API and MCP interfaces to integrate internal tools in a knowledge base.
• Leverage AI tools to accelerate work without substituting real understanding; design and review code with grounding in fundamentals.
• Push back on unnecessary complexity to simplify architectures, pipelines, and codebases for scalability.

Skills

Python

Code architecture

Unit testing

Version control

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related field

Tools

Git

Job description

Ephos is building vertically integrated, advanced packaging solutions on glass panels. We transform raw glass into electronic and optically active substrates for die-to-die connectivity, manufactured entirely within our own facilities. Our systems are built for companies developing AI accelerators, including hyperscalers and top-tier chip designers.

We have already delivered products to leading global firms, and we are currently building a new fabrication facility to scale production by 100x. This expansion is backed by a $50M EU CHIPS Act grant—the first ever awarded to a startup.

The role

We're scaling from an R&D cleanroom to a full production fab for photonic integrated circuits, and we're building a new team to match: the group that owns the software, the data, and the AI applied to our manufacturing process. You'll join it from day one.

This team's software runs the core processes of the fab. You'll own projects from pilot through to production in a real industrial environment, where speed and reliability decide whether we win. And you'll set the standards the rest of the team builds within: technologies, testing, code review, documentation.

Your responsibilities

• Own and evolve our internal and client-facing libraries, with an emphasis on sound architecture and long‑term maintainability.
• Build the orchestrator that runs our fabrication lines: the program that coordinates stages, lasers, and sensors, with a GUI for the operators and an API for the manufacturing execution system.
• Set up and help run a ticketing system for engineering requests.
• Write the runbooks and documentation for the key softwares running our manufacturing process.
• Build API and MCP interfaces for integrating our internal tools in a knowledge base.
• Use AI tools to move faster without letting them substitute for real understanding. You should be just as capable of architecting, writing, and reviewing code without them, for it's that grounding that lets you use them effectively.
• Push back on unnecessary complexity. Simplify architectures, pipelines, and codebases wherever it makes the system easier to scale and maintain.

Skills & experience

• Bachelor's degree (or further) in computer science, a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 3+ years of professional software engineering experience in an industrial or production setting.
• Experience writing libraries from the ground up, including system architecture and technology selection beside execution.
• Advanced experience with version control in a collaborative environment: reviewing pull requests, resolving merge conflicts, and navigating codebase history.
• Solid experience writing unit and integration tests, and building a testing culture around them.
• Proficiency in Python is necessary. Experience with full‑stack development or other programming languages is a plus.
• Based in Milan, on site with the machines you are writing software for. Due to the nature of the role we will not consider remote applicants.

Ephos is a demanding environment. We operate with exceptional ambition and move fast, because the market gives us no other option. We expect excellence from you, as we do from one another. This environment offers unmatched opportunities to learn, build, and grow, but it also requires significant commitment.

What we offer

• Salary range from €40,000 to €65,000, depending on experience.
• Stock options; granted at this stage, they can become extremely valuable.
• An exceptional opportunity for growth.

The hiring process

• A first conversation with the team lead.
• Two technical interviews with the team lead and a senior software engineer, built around a small project. We give you a skeleton and a simple algorithm, and we expect a few hours of work, not a finished product. Use AI tools as much or as little as you like. What interests us is the architecture you chose, the order in which you built it, how you would test it, and how you would ship it. The project grows between the two interviews, as real requirements do.
• A final conversation with our CEO.