Director of Test Automation

Neurophos • Austin, TX

20h • Onsite

About The Position

Neurophos is bringing up its first optical processing units (OPUs), and this role will own test and test automation across wafer, component, and system levels, along with the automation and data that connect them. The Director of Test Automation will define testing for the T100, establish pass criteria based on actual hardware behavior, and build the team and infrastructure needed to scale testing from manual engineering work to production volume.

The position is based onsite in Austin, TX (preferred) or Sunnyvale, CA, and reports to the VP of Product Engineering. The Director will define and implement testing for T100 OPU modules and POC1 units, create wafer-level screening and system-level verification, build automation and test-data systems, connect results across testing levels, and collaborate with calibration, optical metrology, and integration engineers. The role includes hiring and leading the test team while remaining hands-on at the bench as the team grows.

Requirements

• MS or PhD in engineering, physics, or computer science.
• 10+ years of experience in hardware test engineering or test automation, including experience hiring and growing engineers.
• Built a test automation system from scratch and demonstrated that it could 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 multiple interacting subsystems.
• 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 which tests a unit still needs, 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.
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop test frameworks.
• Experience testing systems where accuracy comes from calibration rather than component tolerance.
• Experience taking a test process from first article into production and handing it off 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 paths produce the correct result.
• Build test automation across all three levels, including test sequences, probing 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 to the finished unit.
• Connect test results across 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 benefits plan choices, with cash back for plans not selected.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree