Metrology Application Engineer

VoltForce; San Leandro (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Travel opportunities

Job summary

VoltForce is seeking a Metrology Applications Engineer to join a client-led effort in San Leandro, CA. The role blends hands-on metrology work in labs and at customer sites with direct collaboration with customer engineering teams.

You will design demonstration studies, analyze results, and translate insights into actionable recommendations while supporting installations and contributing to product improvements.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in materials science, chemical engineering, chemistry, physics, or related field; PhD preferred for some roles.
• 1–2 years of industry experience for BS/MS candidates; relevant PhD experience also acceptable.
• Experience with hardware and software in industrial or manufacturing settings.
• Familiarity with data analysis, ML concepts, and SPC-like approaches.
• Strong written and verbal communication and ability to present to mixed audiences.

Responsibilities

• Work with customers to understand metrology requirements and scope demonstration studies.
• Design, run, and analyze experiments in labs and at customer facilities.
• Present findings to customer engineers and executives; plan next steps together.
• Support installation, commissioning, and optimization of systems at customer sites.
• Provide feedback to product and engineering teams to influence roadmap and usability.
• Develop documentation, SOPs, and application notes for customers and internal teams.

Skills

Hardware experience

Software familiarity

Data analysis & ML concepts

Interpersonal communication

Travel willingness

Education

B.S./M.S. in materials science or related field

Ph.D. in a relevant field

Tools

JMP

MATLAB

Python

Job description

Metrology Applications Engineer

Confidential client. Search led by VoltForce.

Location: San Leandro, CA (on-site) Job Type: Full-time

About The Company

VoltForce is working with an early-stage materials-inspection company on the search for a

Metrology Applications Engineer. Our client helps manufacturers make better, safer, and more

reliable micro- and nano-scale materials, the building blocks of critical sectors like energy

storage, semiconductors, aerospace, and power systems. As demand surges and production

grows more complex and faster, small undetected variations during manufacturing lead to

waste, lower performance, higher cost, and safety risk, leaving manufacturers with little visibility

into the quality of what they produce.

The company's platform changes that. It non-destructively probes materials during production,

pairing a novel sensing approach with physics-informed machine learning to capture real-time

signals that conventional measurement techniques cannot access. Those signals give

manufacturers rare visibility into how materials behave as they are made.

The company turns that hidden data into actionable intelligence, helping manufacturers reduce

variability and increase yield and performance. The platform can run as a standalone tool or

integrate directly into production lines, it is already in early deployment with leading global

manufacturers, and the first commercial product is on the way.

Role Overview

Our client is seeking a Metrology Applications Engineer to join its Customer Solutions

Engineering team. This role combines hands-on technical work in the company's labs and at

customer sites with direct, face-to-face engagement with customer engineering and operations

teams.

You will help demonstrate and develop new capabilities and use cases for the company's

metrology platform. That includes working with customers to understand, deploy, and extract

value from the platform by designing and executing demonstration studies, interpreting results,

and translating insights into clear recommendations. The company welcomes driven materials

characterization and metrology specialists who want to make a tangible impact on advanced

manufacturing and the green energy transition, and strongly encourages candidates from

underrepresented groups to apply.

What You'll Do

• Work directly with customers, prospects, and collaborators to understand material and

product metrology requirements, then scope, plan, and execute appropriate demonstration

studies and proofs of concept.

• Design, run, and analyze experiments in the company's labs and at customer facilities,

including test planning, data collection, and interpretation of metrology results.

• Present findings in a clear, structured way to customer engineers, managers, and executives,

and collaborate on next-step plans based on the results.

• Support installation, commissioning, and optimization of the company's systems at

customer sites, including basic troubleshooting and performance verification.

• Provide structured feedback from field deployments and customer interactions to the

company's product and engineering teams, influencing roadmap and usability
improvements.

• Explore and identify new applications, performance capabilities, and product features that

expand the product and market opportunities for the company's platform.

• Contribute to the development and continuous improvement of internal methodologies,

calibration procedures, and best practices for metrology workflows.

• Create and maintain concise documentation (application notes, standard operating

procedures, quick-start guides) for customers and internal teams.

What We're Looking For

• A B.S. or M.S. in materials science, chemical engineering, chemistry, physics, or a closely

related technical discipline; or a Ph.D. in a relevant field.

• For B.S./M.S. candidates: 1 to 2 years of industry experience in manufacturing, metrology,

materials characterization, and/or materials development (coatings or precursor materials

experience is a plus).

• For Ph.D. candidates: research or industry experience directly related to materials

characterization, materials fabrication or coating, or advanced manufacturing.

• Experience working with hardware and software in an industrial or manufacturing context

(e.g., lab instrumentation, in-line sensors, analytics tools).

• Familiarity with data analysis, unsupervised/supervised ML, and statistical process concepts

(e.g., SPC, Gauge R&R, basic modeling, trend analysis), and comfort using tools like JMP,

Matlab, and/or Python.

• Strong interpersonal skills and confidence interacting face to face with customers, including

on shop floors, in labs, and in conference rooms.

• Ability and willingness to travel (up to ~25%) for customer site work, installations, and

conferences.

• Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical

concepts to mixed technical/non-technical audiences.

• Adaptability and enthusiasm for working in a multidisciplinary environment where priorities

can shift based on customer needs.

Nice to Have

• Prior work or research experience in one or more of the company's key industrial markets

(batteries, aerospace, power generation, semiconductors, energy, electronics).

• Exposure to surface treatment or coating processes, high-temperature materials, or in
  

situ/on-line metrology systems.

• Fluency in one or more stakeholder languages (e.g., Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Korean,
  
  

German, French).