Equipment Engineer - Vacuum & Deposition Systems

Periodic Labs; Menlo Park (CA); On-site; USD 165,000 - 275,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Job summary

Periodic Labs in Menlo Park, CA, is seeking an Equipment Engineer to own commissioning, qualification, and maintenance of vacuum and deposition hardware for our AI-accelerated lab. You will bring up new tools, develop SOPs, qualify capital equipment with vendors, and collaborate daily with AI/ML, simulation, process engineering, and physics teams to enable scalable materials discovery.

This hands-on role requires strong problem solving and cross-functional communication to keep tool uptime high

Qualifications

• Hands-on vacuum systems experience in semiconductor or nanofabrication.
• Deep knowledge of high-vacuum operation and deposition hardware.
• Experience integrating metrology into process equipment.
• Startup-ready and able to work in fast-paced environments.

Responsibilities

• Build out AI-accelerated lab with deposition systems and metrology tools.
• Define specifications, acceptance criteria, and qualification protocols.
• Engage vendors, provide technical requirements, and assist bid evaluations.
• Create SOPs and equipment data pipelines for AI training.
• Own equipment uptime, troubleshoot, and perform root-cause analysis.

Skills

Vacuum systems

High-vacuum operation

In-situ metrology

Process equipment integration

Vendor engagement

Startup mindset

Education

BS/MS/PhD in Engineering or Materials Science

Tools

Deposition systems (PVD, CVD, ALD)

Vacuum hardware

Job description

Periodic Labs in Menlo Park, CA, is seeking an Equipment Engineer to own commissioning, qualification, and maintenance of vacuum and deposition hardware for our AI-accelerated lab. You will bring up new tools, develop SOPs, qualify capital equipment with vendors, and collaborate daily with AI/ML, simulation, process engineering, and physics teams to enable scalable materials discovery.

This hands-on role requires strong problem solving and cross-functional communication to keep tool uptime high