Director of Test Automation

Neurophos • Austin, TX

1d • $255,000 - $300,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Neurophos is bringing up its first optical processing units, and the Director of Test Automation will own test and test automation at wafer, component, and system levels, along with the automation and data connecting them. The role will define what testing means for the T100, set pass criteria based on actual hardware behavior, and build the team and infrastructure needed to scale testing from manual work to volume production.

The position leads test strategy for T100 OPU modules and POC1 units; develops wafer-level screening and system-level verification; and builds test sequences, probing and fixturing, instrument control, pass criteria, and a high-volume test data system. It also connects test results across levels to improve downstream testing and calibration, and uses system findings to inform component specifications and screening criteria. The director will work with calibration, optical metrology, and integration engineers, hire and lead the test team, and remain hands-on at the bench while the team is small.

Neurophos develops optical processing technology using silicon photonics and an active, programmable metasurface for matrix multiplication. The role is full-time and onsite in Austin, Texas (preferred) or Sunnyvale, California, and reports to the VP of Product Engineering.

Requirements

• MS or PhD in engineering, physics, or computer science.
• 10+ years in hardware test engineering or test automation, including experience hiring and growing engineers.
• Built a test automation system from scratch and demonstrated that it can support real production volume.
• Wafer-level test experience on logic or photonic devices, including probing, test-program development, and screening die before packaging.
• Experience testing systems whose results depend on interactions among several subsystems and where failures may be difficult to localize.
• Built or owned a test data management system, including schema, storage at volume, and die-level traceability through packaging.
• Connected test data across levels and applied AI/ML to predict downstream behavior from upstream measurements, determine remaining tests for a unit, and set evidence-based screening criteria.
• Strong software skills in Python or a similar language, including instrument control, and the judgment to build an extensible framework.

Nice To Haves

• Optical or photonic testing experience, including fiber, free-space optics, detectors, and alignment.
• High-speed electrical measurement and signal integrity experience.
• Hardware-in-the-loop test framework experience.
• Testing systems whose accuracy comes from calibration rather than component tolerance.
• Experience taking a test process from first article into production and handing it to a contract manufacturer.

Responsibilities

• Define and own test strategy across wafer, component, and system levels for T100 OPU modules and POC1 units.
• Develop wafer-level probe and test programs to screen known-good die before packaging.
• Establish system-level tests that verify the optical, electrical, and computational path produces the right answer.
• Build test automation across all three levels, including test sequences, probe and fixturing, instrument control, and pass criteria.
• Design a test data system, including measurement-data schema and storage at volume, and traceability from die identity and position through packaging into finished units.
• Connect results across test levels so upstream data can shorten downstream testing and seed calibration, and system findings can inform component specifications and screening criteria.
• Work with calibration, optical metrology, and integration engineers who share instruments, fixtures, and data with test.
• Hire and lead the test team while remaining hands-on at the bench as the team grows.

Benefits

• 100% coverage of base health plan premiums for the employee and dependents, plus HSA contributions.
• Unlimited PTO.
• 401(k) matching.
• Stock option opportunities.
• Voluntary dental, vision, life, hospital, critical illness, and accident insurance.
• Personalized benefit-plan choices, with cash back for plans not selected.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director