Senior Systems Architect – Optical Inspection & Metrology

Onto Innovation; Upton (KY); On-site; USD 144,000 - 216,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

Disability insurance

PTO

401(k) match

ESPP

Job summary

Onto Innovation is seeking a Principal Systems Engineer to lead advanced automated optical inspection and metrology systems across the full product lifecycle. The role requires hands-on technical leadership across hardware, software, and manufacturing disciplines to deliver high-precision semiconductor solutions.

The candidate will mentor engineers, drive concept development, and communicate technical maturity to stakeholders while traveling internationally as needed.

Qualifications

• PhD (preferred) or advanced degree in Physics, Engineering, Materials Science, or related field.
• 10+ years of experience developing high-precision optical or semiconductor capital equipment.
• Experience with optical inspection, metrology, spectroscopy, ellipsometry, and reflectometry is a plus.
• Knowledge of statistical signal processing and advanced control systems is a plus.
• Experience with MATLAB, LabVIEW, and ZEMAX is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership through a full product development lifecycle, from early stage research to implementation.
• Own and execute core system engineering activities, including requirement definition and total system solution under constraints.
• Drive early-stage concept development, rapid prototyping, and test iterations with cross-functional teams.
• Lead technical planning for activities, including roadmap development, system integration, verification and validation, transfer to manufacturing and service readiness.
• Define system architecture and identify/mitigate technical risks with engineers and experts.
• Communicate development maturity and TRL status to stakeholders.
• Mentor and develop engineering team members, fostering system-level thinking.

Skills

Systems engineering

Optical engineering

Semiconductor metrology

Innovation

Root-cause analysis

Education

PhD or advanced degree

Tools

ZEMAX

LabVIEW

MATLAB

Job description

Onto Innovation is seeking a Principal Systems Engineer to lead advanced automated optical inspection and metrology systems across the full product lifecycle. The role requires hands-on technical leadership across hardware, software, and manufacturing disciplines to deliver high-precision semiconductor solutions.

The candidate will mentor engineers, drive concept development, and communicate technical maturity to stakeholders while traveling internationally as needed.