Senior Software Engineer - Machine Control

Nearfield Instruments; Rotterdam; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Nearfield Instruments is seeking a Senior Software Engineer focused on Machine Control. You will own software architecture and lifecycle across the Machine Control stack, guiding product owners and engineers alike in delivering robust, high-performance software for advanced metrology systems.

You will mentor peers, lead multi-team collaborations, and drive quality through modern practices like CI/CD and automated testing, while shaping technical direction for cutting-edge semiconductor customers.

Qualifications

• Master's degree or higher in Computer Science or a related field.
• 10+ years of software development experience in C#.
• 5+ years of software system design and architecture.
• Experience with modern software development practices and tools (Git, CI/CD, automated testing, JIRA, PlantUML).
• Strong communication and coaching abilities.
• Experience with precision equipment or semiconductor industry is a plus.
• Ability to operate as a technical lead, influencing architectural decisions and mentoring other engineers.

Responsibilities

• Collect requirements from Product Owners or internal customers and translate them into software requirements.
• Create high level module and component designs to meet software and product needs.
• Lead the development of a feature together with a team of engineers in a feature team.
• Troubleshoot technical issues across software development, engineering tasks and releases.
• Drive software quality and reliability through structured testing, validation, and continuous improvement.
• Identify system risks and resolve complex technical issues proactively.
• Lead and support the integration of multi-disciplinary subsystems.
• Mentor and act as escalation point for less experienced engineers.

Skills

C# expertise

Architecture leadership

CI/CD

Automation testing

Education

Master's degree or higher in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Git

CI/CD

JIRA

PlantUML

Job description

About Nearfield Instruments

Nearfield Instruments (NFI) is a fast-growing scale-up high-tech company. We design, develop, integrate, market and service advanced metrology machines. Our machines enables our customers - the world's leading chipmakers - to increase the production yields, and thus, functionality of their microchips, which in turn leads to smaller, more powerful consumer electronics.

Founded in 2016, we bring together the most creative minds (approx. 320 employees) in science and technology and develop a one-of-a-kind, revolutionary high throughput Scanning Probe Microscopy system.

Where you will be working?

Within our Design & Engineering department this role is part of the Software Group. The SW Group consists of roughly 40 engineers within several teams working on the areas of Machine Control, Device Control, Integration and Data Science.

What will you be doing

Your focus will be the Machine Control where you develop software to develop business logic, UI and semiconductor-foundry communication logic of our machines. As a Senior Software Engineer, you will be responsible for the architecture, design, and lifecycle management of Machine Control software within our machines, serving as a technical go-to person for both Product Owners and Software Engineers.

Your responsibilities include:

• Collecting requirements from Product Owners or (Internal) Customers and translate product requirements to SW level requirements

• Making a high-level module/component design to fulfill both SW level requirements and product requirements

• Leading the development of a given feature along with a handful of other developers in a feature team

• Troubleshooting technical issues that involve software development, engineering tasks and product releases

• Driving software quality and reliability through structured testing strategies, validation, and continuous improvement

• Proactively identifying system-level risks and resolving complex technical issues

• Leading and supporting the integration of multi-disciplinary subsystems

• Acting as a mentor and escalation point for less experienced engineers

Why is the position interesting for you?

• You take ownership of complex technical systems and influence architectural decisions

• You are recognized as a subject matter expert within the organization

• You work on high-performance mechatronic systems using advanced technologies

• You operate in an environment where engineering excellence and autonomy are valued

As a scaleup, we can provide phenomenal learning and development opportunities but can also be a hectic environment at times. You should understand agile quite well. You embrace the culture and keep working on following aspects such as customer collaboration, Individuals and interaction, responding to change over following a structured plan, prototyping/working solutions over comprehensive documentation.

• Education: Master's degree or higher in Computer Science or relevant education background

• Above 10 years of experience in software development in C#

• Above 5 years of experience in software system design, and architecture

• Experience with modern software development practices and tools (git, CI/CD, automated testing, JIRA, PlantUML)

• Good communication skills

• Experience with precision equipment or semiconductor industry is a plus

• Coaching ability, as a technical advisor, you make sure that the team stays up-to-date with relevant knowledge

• Ability to operate as a technical lead, influencing architectural decisions and mentoring other engineers

• Ability to influence other teams in the organization and convince them of your technical vision and direction