Senior Photonics Test Engineer

Volantis Semiconductor, Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Volantis Semiconductor, Inc. is seeking a Senior Photonics Test Engineer to own characterization, test development, and product validation for photonic devices and integrated optoelectronic assemblies.

This hands-on senior IC role spans instrumentation, test automation, and data analysis with responsibility for measurement quality and engineering conclusions. You will build measurement capabilities for device and process development, wafer-level screening, and scaling to manufacturing,

Qualifications

• Hands-on ownership of test development for photonic, optoelectronic, or semiconductor hardware.
• Experience building automated test equipment, wafer-probing systems, or custom characterization stations; hardware integration and test software.

Responsibilities

• Define characterization plans, test coverage, parameter-extraction methods, and acceptance criteria for wafer-, die-, and package-level testing.
• Design, prototype, and qualify automated test equipment (ATE) and stations; integrate wafer probers, RF/DC instrumentation, optical alignment, motion control, and temperature control.
• Develop measurements for PICs, VCSELs, photodetectors; characterize optical loss, LIV, spectra, polarization, detector response, and temperature dependence.
• Develop Python-based instrument control and measurement sequences; maintainable software with logging and error handling.
• Establish calibration and measurement-system analysis including Gage R&R; use SPC and control charts to monitor data quality.
• Build database-backed test-data workflows; ensure traceability of device, wafer, lot, and configuration.
• Lead root-cause analysis to correlate wafer results with device and system performance; improve designs and models.
• Collaborate with design for testability and throughput improvements; support manufacturing readiness and transfer.

Skills

Test development

Automated test equipment

Python for instrument control

Data analysis

Statistical methods

Education

Electrical Engineering / Photonics / Optical Engineering degree

Tools

wafer probers

RF/DC instrumentation

optical alignment

Job description

What We're Building

Volantis is bringing optical interconnect inside the accelerator to overcome the memory wall in AI computing. Our platform combines micro-VCSEL arrays, photonic waveguides, and wafer-scale integration to connect compute and memory with high bandwidth, low latency, and low power.

What We're Looking For:

We are looking for a Senior Photonics Test Engineer to own characterization, test development, and product validation for our photonic devices and integrated optoelectronic assemblies. You will build measurement capabilities that support device and process development, wafer-level screening, product qualification, and the transition to scalable manufacturing.

This is a hands-on senior individual-contributor role spanning instrumentation, test automation, and data analysis. You will be responsible for both the quality of the measurements and the engineering conclusions drawn from them.

Responsibilities

• Test strategy and validation. Define characterization plans, test coverage, parameter-extraction
  methods, and acceptance criteria for wafer-, die-, and package-level testing. Translate device requirements into practical measurements and screening limits.
• Automated test systems. Design, prototype, and qualify automated test equipment (ATE) and
  custom optical, electrical, and electro-optical stations. Integrate wafer probers, RF/DC
  instrumentation, optical alignment, motion control, and temperature control.
• Device characterization. Develop measurements for passive photonic integrated circuits (PICs),
  VCSELs, photodetectors, and assemblies. Characterize optical loss and coupling, laser light-current-
  voltage (LIV) behavior, spectra, polarization, detector responsivity and dark current, and temperature
  dependence. Collaborate on RF/electro-optical bandwidth measurements.
• Measurement software. Develop Python-based instrument control, measurement sequences,
  parameter-extraction algorithms, and automated analysis. Build maintainable, version-controlled
  software with logging, error handling, and support for unattended testing.
• Measurement-system qualification. Establish calibration, reference-device checks, station
  matching, and measurement-system analysis, including Gage repeatability and reproducibility (Gage
  R&R). Use statistical process control (SPC) and control charts to monitor drift and data quality.
• Test data and yield. Build database-backed test-data workflows with software and data-engineering
  partners. Maintain device, wafer, lot, and configuration traceability; analyze wafer maps, distributions,
  yield, and process variation to guide engineering decisions.
• Debug and performance correlation. Lead measurement-driven root-cause analysis to separate
  device, process, packaging, and test-system issues. Correlate wafer-level results with packaged-
  device and system performance, and use those findings to improve designs and models.
• Testability and throughput. Work with designers on design for testability (DFT), test structures, and
  optical/electrical access. Develop throughput models and improve test time through parallel
  measurements, efficient sequencing, and statistically justified sampling without sacrificing necessary
  coverage.
• Manufacturing readiness. Support new product introduction (NPI), qualification, reliability testing,
  and transfer of test methods to manufacturing partners. Document procedures, validate transferred
  stations, and collaborate across photonics, laser, electrical, process, packaging, and manufacturing
  teams.

Key Qualifications

• Demonstrated technical ownership of test development for photonic, optoelectronic, or semiconductor hardware, from measurement requirements through a working, qualified implementation.
• Hands-on experience developing automated test equipment, wafer-probing systems, or custom
  characterization stations, including hardware integration and test software.
• Experience with optical, electrical, and electro-optical measurements, with depth in PICs,
  semiconductor lasers, photodetectors, or related devices. Ability to build setups, debug hardware,
  and distinguish device behavior from measurement artifacts.
• Strong measurement fundamentals, including calibration, noise, dynamic range, bandwidth,
  uncertainty, and repeatability. Experience establishing whether a test method is suitable for its intended use.
• Proficiency in Python for instrument control, data acquisition, parameter extraction, and analysis;
  experience with Git or equivalent version control and maintainable measurement software.
• Familiarity with databases and structured test data, including metadata and traceability.
  Practical statistical analysis skills for comparing populations, assessing variation and repeatability,
  investigating outliers, and interpreting yield.
• Ability to work independently, prioritize experiments, and communicate results, limitations, and root-
  cause findings clearly to design, process, packaging, and manufacturing teams.
• A degree in Electrical Engineering, Photonics, Optical Engineering, Physics, or a related field, or
  equivalent relevant industry experience.

Desired Experience / Nice to Have

• Wafer-level optical and RF/electro-optical testing of silicon or silicon nitride PICs; automated
  alignment, probe cards, wafer mapping, or active and passive device characterization.
• VCSEL or laser-array testing, including relative intensity noise (RIN), beam profiles, polarization,
  thermal behavior, and array-level uniformity or crosstalk.
• High-speed measurements using vector network analyzers, RF probes, calibration and de-
  embedding, eye diagrams, or bit-error-rate testing; correlation of component measurements with
  optical-link performance.
• New product introduction, engineering, design, and production validation (EVT/DVT/PVT), and
  transfer from R&D to high-volume manufacturing (HVM). Experience with commercial ATE, parallel
  or multisite test, station correlation, and test-time reduction.
• Design of experiments, SPC, Gage R&R, yield optimization, reliability qualification, or structured
  failure analysis and root-cause investigation.
• SQL, JMP, or comparable data-analysis tools; database-backed measurement pipelines, automated reporting, or larger-scale test-data infrastructure.
• Design-for-test implementation, photonic test structures, custom fixtures or test PCBs, or experience
  connecting device models and fabrication variation to measured performance.

We do not expect every candidate to have used every instrument or tested every device type listed. Strong measurement fundamentals, hands-on test-development experience, and the ability to turn reliable data into engineering decisions matter more than matching every desired qualification.