Staff/ Sr. Staff HW Test Automation Engineer

Lightmatter; Mountain View (CA); Hybrid; USD 167,000 - 227,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health plan

401(k) matching

Life insurance

PTO

Family leave

Disability insurance

Training & development

Commuter benefits

Hybrid work model

Equity grants

Job summary

Lightmatter is creating the next generation of photonic chips and AI data center infrastructure. We seek a Hardware Test Automation Engineer to automate bring-up, characterization, and production testing using an internal Java/Python framework across bench and ATE environments.

You will collaborate with hardware and characterization engineers, develop instrument control code, and build robust data pipelines for test results and yields. Hybrid work model and career growth included.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 8+ years of experience in hardware test software, ATE systems, or test architecture, ideally in semiconductor or photonics.
• Track record of owning test software architecture for a product line.
• Deep hands-on experience with ATE test method/test flow development and/or embedded test frameworks; fluency with instrumentation automation (SCPI/VISA).
• History of mentoring engineers and driving cross-functional technical decisions with hardware, characterization, and manufacturing teams.
• Ability to scope, plan, implement, and validate an automation project end-to-end.
• Comfortable working with embedded software (C/C++) and firmware.

Responsibilities

• Learn the hardware you're automating well enough to make informed software decisions.
• Design and build test software that automates device bring-up, characterization, and production test sequences.
• Develop and maintain test methods, test flows, and instrument control code.
• Work with hardware and characterization engineers to translate device physics and test requirements into working test software.
• Build and maintain data logging and results pipelines for accurate data capture and downstream analysis.
• Debug integration issues across device under test, fixture, instrument, and test code to identify root cause.
• Support test program releases to internal and external test facilities.

Skills

Hardware test software

Test automation

C/C++

SCPI/VISA

Embedded firmware

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/EE

Tools

ATE systems

Instrument control

Lab automation

Job description

Lightmatter is leading the revolution in AI data center infrastructure, enabling the next giant leaps in human progress. The company invented the world’s first 3D-stacked photonics engine, Passage™, capable of connecting thousands to millions of processors at the speed of light in extreme-scale data centers for the most advanced AI and HPC workloads.

Lightmatter raised $400 million in its Series D round, reaching a valuation of $4.4 billion. We will continue to accelerate the development of data center photonics and grow every department at Lightmatter!

If you're passionate about tackling complex challenges, making an impact, and being an expert in your craft, join our team of brilliant scientists, engineers, and accomplished industry leaders.

Lightmatter is (re)inventing the future of computing with light!

Product Engineering builds the software that brings up, characterizes, and qualifies Lightmatter's photonic chips on real hardware — from bench-top bring-up through production test on automated test equipment (ATE). You'll write the code that drives instruments, testers, wafer probers, and lab automation to bring a chip to life and prove it works. Test software infrastructure at Lightmatter spans multiple platforms, wafer test, hardware validation, and laser/optical test, and this role often acts as the bridge between engineers working at the bench and the broader test software team.

As a Hardware Test Automation Engineer you'll have the opportunity to work across some combination of: an internal test software framework (Java/Python-based), industry-standard ATE test method and testflow development, wafer prober integration, instrument control (optical and electrical sources, meters, sensors), embedded/firmware interfaces on the hardware side, and data pipelines from lab equipment to structured results.

Responsibilities

• Learn the hardware you're automating well enough to make informed software decisions about it.
• Design and build test software that automates device bring-up, characterization, and production test sequences across bench and ATE environments.
• Develop and maintain test methods, test flows, and instrument control code depending on level and project while writing code and reviewing code are both daily parts of the role.
• Work directly with hardware and characterization engineers to understand their needs and translate device physics and test requirements into working, repeatable test software.
• Build and maintain data logging and results pipelines so test data is captured accurately and usable downstream (metric computation, yield analysis, production handoff).
• Debug test hardware/software integration issues, working across the device under test, the fixture, the instrument, and the test code to find root cause.
• Support test program releases to internal test cells and, at senior levels, to external test facilities.
• Communicate daily with the team on progress and blockers, and spend regular time in the lab working hands-on with hardware.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 8+ years of experience in hardware test software, ATE systems, or test architecture, ideally in semiconductor or photonics.
• Track record of owning test software architecture for a product line, including decisions on how the framework scales across projects and teams.
• Deep hands-on experience with ATE test method/test flow development and/or embedded test frameworks for hardware test automation, plus fluency with instrumentation automation (SCPI/VISA or equivalent) at a level where you can teach it to others.
• History of mentoring engineers and driving cross-functional technical decisions with hardware, characterization, and manufacturing teams.
• Can articulate, end to end, how they scoped, planned, implemented, and validated an automation project.
• Comfortable working at the hardware/software boundary — reading and reasoning about embedded software (C/C++), controls, or firmware well enough to co-develop directly with the engineers who own it.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's/PhD with 3+ years, of experience in hardware test software, ATE systems, or test architecture, ideally in semiconductor or photonics.
• Experience integrating ATE with wafer-level hardware (probers, handlers) is a strong plus.
• Experience with photonic test instrumentation

We offer competitive compensation. The base salary range for this role determined based on location, experience, educational background, and market data.

Salary Range: total compensation goes beyond base salary, it also includes a new hire equity grant, annual performance-based equity, and other rewards that recognize your impact and contribution.: $167,000 USD - $227,000 USD

Benefits

• Comprehensive Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Savings Matching Program
• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Generous Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Paid Family Leave
• Short Term & Long Term Disability
• Training & Development
• Commuter Benefits
• Flexible, hybrid workplace model
• Equity grants (applicable to full-time employees)

Benefits eligibility may vary depending on your employment status and location. Lightmatter recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law.

Export Control

Candidates should have capacity to comply with the federally mandated requirements of U.S. export control laws.