Manufacturing Engineer - Photonics Products

BOM; Eindhoven; Hybrid; EUR 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

EFFECT Photonics, based in Eindhoven, is seeking a Manufacturing Engineer to set up and optimize high-volume production of advanced photonics products. You will drive manufacturability and process improvements, collaborating across Product Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and suppliers to enable scalable manufacturing.

The role emphasizes yield improvement, process optimization, CAPA, and cross-functional collaboration, with strong English communication and experience in cleanroom

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical discipline.
• 5+ years manufacturing engineering experience in photonics, optoelectronics, semiconductor, or precision electronics manufacturing.
• Demonstrated success driving measurable yield improvement in a production environment.
• Strong understanding of photonics manufacturing processes and optical assembly techniques.
• Experience with statistical analysis tools, SPC, DOE, root cause analysis, and failure analysis methodologies.
• Familiarity with Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma principles.
• Experience in working in cleanroom manufacturing environments.
• Strong problem-solving, analytical and data interpretation skills.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration abilities.

Responsibilities

• Own the industrialization and NPI processes – from concept into mass production.
• Ensure designs are manufacturable and meet quality and margin requirements by driving DFM, assembly, test, reliability and cost principles.
• Ensure product readiness for manufacturing including BOM accuracy and specifications.
• Push the boundaries of manufacturing processes to support product innovation.
• Work with manufacturing partners to solicit early manufacturability feedback and ramp up projects.
• Prime contact for manufacturing partners on technical matters; interface between Thailand manufacturing and Eindhoven teams.
• Lead yield improvement initiatives.
• Analyze manufacturing data, defect paretos, SPC trends, and failure analysis results to identify root causes of yield loss.
• Develop and implement CAPA to improve first-pass yield, throughput, reliability and cost.
• Optimize manufacturing processes including optical alignment, die attach, wire bonding, packaging, test, assembly, and burn-in operations.
• Drive continuous improvement using Lean, Six Sigma, DOE, PFMEA, and statistical methods.
• Establish/improve process controls, work instructions, manufacturing docs, and validation protocols.
• Support equipment qualification, process characterization, and process capability improvements.
• Collaborate with suppliers and contract manufacturers to resolve issues.
• Monitor KPIs: cost, yield, scrap, cycle time, uptime, and OEE.
• Lead troubleshooting for manufacturing excursions and customer-return investigations.
• Support automation and digital manufacturing initiatives.
• Ensure compliance with quality standards, safety regulations, and industry best practices.

Skills

Yield improvement

Process optimization

Root cause analysis

Statistical data analysis

Continuous improvement

Cross-functional collaboration

Manufacturing scalability

Technical problem solving

Operational excellence

Supplier interactions

English communication

Risk mitigation

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or related technical field

Tools

MES systems

ERP platforms

Data analytics tools

Optical alignment systems

Job description

EFFECT Photonics is a technology scale-up founded in Eindhoven. We develop highly sophisticated optical sub-assemblies (OSAs), including, among others, high-performance lasers for the data- and telecommunications market.

We are looking for a Manufacturing Engineer – Photonics Products. You will be responsible for setting up and supporting the production of advanced photonics products in a high-volume manufacturing environment.

The ideal candidate is a highly motivated and result-driven manufacturing engineer who has strong experience in photonics manufacturing processes and a proven track record of driving yield improvement, process optimization, and continuous improvement initiatives across the production lifecycle.

• Pro-active, self-directed, able to work independently as well as being part of a cross functional team. Works together with Product Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain Management and suppliers.
• Ability to identify risks and drive risk mitigation plans
• Yield improvement leadership
• Process Optimization
• Root Cause Analysis
• Statistical Data Analysis
• Continuous Improvement
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Manufacturing Scalability
• Technical Problem Solving
• Operational Excellence
• Experienced with supplier interactions
• Excellent communication and teamwork
• Good writing and oral communication skills in English
• Understanding of Asia business culture

Required qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics or a related technical discipline.
• 5+ years of manufacturing engineering experience in photonics, optoelectronics, semiconductor, or precision electronics manufacturing.
• Demonstrated success driving measurable yield improvement in a production environment.
• Strong understanding of photonics manufacturing processes and optical assembly techniques.
• Experience with statistical analysis tools, SPC, DOE, root cause analysis, and failure analysis methodologies.
• Familiarity with Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma principles.
• Experience in working in cleanroom manufacturing environments.
• Strong problem-solving, analytical and data interpretation skills.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration abilities.

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience with photonic integrated circuits (PICs), fiber optics, lasers. LiDAR, telecom optics, or optical transceivers
• Six sigma green belt or black belt certification.
• Familiarity with automated optical alignment and test systems.
• Experience with MES systems, ERP platforms, and manufacturing data analytics tools.
• Knowledge of reliability testing and qualification standards for photonics products.
• Experience supporting NPI (New Product Introduction) and manufacturing scale-up.

• During the product design stage:
  • Own the industrialization and NPI (New Product Introduction) processes – from an Operations point of view - from product concept into mass production until End of Life.
  • Participate in the cross-functional project team to ensure that proposed product designs are manufacturable and meet quality & margin requirements by driving design for manufacturability, assembly, test, reliability and cost principles.
  • Ensuring product readiness for manufacturing including BOM accuracy and availability of specifications, drawings, control plans.
  • Pushing the boundaries of the manufacturing processes to support product innovation.
  • Work with selected manufacturing partners to solicit early manufacturability feedback and ramp up assigned projects into mass production.
• During the mass production stage:
  • Prime contact for the selected manufacturing partners on technical matters. Act as the interface between Thailand manufacturing and Eindhoven engineer teams.
  • Lead yield improvement initiatives.
  • Analyze manufacturing data, defect paretos, SPC trends, and failure analysis results to identify root causes of yield loss and process variation.
  • Develop and implement corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) to improve first-pass yield, throughput, reliability and product cost.
  • Optimize manufacturing processes including optical alignment, die attach, wire bonding, packaging, test, assembly, and burn-in operations.
  • Drive continuous improvement activities using Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, DOE, PFMEA, and statistical analysis methodologies.
  • Establish/improve process controls, work instructions, manufacturing documentation, and validation protocols.
  • Support equipment qualification, process characterization, and process capability improvement activities.
  • Work closely with suppliers and contract manufacturers to resolve process and quality issues.
  • Monitor KPIs related to cost, yield, scrap, cycle time, uptime, and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
  • Lead troubleshooting efforts for manufacturing excursions and customer-return investigations.
  • Support automation and digital manufacturing initiatives to improve repeatability and manufacturing scalability.
  • Ensure compliance with quality standards, safety regulations, and industry best practices.