Process Engineer

Luna Innovations • Blacksburg, VA

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About The Position

Luna Innovations is hiring a Process Engineer to join our manufacturing team in Blacksburg, Virginia. You’ll develop, optimize, and scale the manufacturing processes behind our OFDR (Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometry) systems and swept wavelength laser products—and play a key role in bringing new designs from the lab to the production floor. These are high-precision photonic instruments used for distributed fiber optic sensing, component-level test and measurement, and advanced research. Building these tools at production scale requires manufacturing processes that are as carefully engineered as the products themselves.

The photonics industry is growing fast. Demand for Luna’s OFDR and swept laser platforms is expanding across aerospace, defense, telecommunications, and emerging applications like AI datacenter interconnects and structural health monitoring. This role is your opportunity to directly shape how these products are built—designing processes that improve yield, reduce cost, and scale to meet that growing demand.

WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS

Building a swept laser that tunes across a broad wavelength range with sub-picometer repeatability—or an OFDR system that resolves distributed strain measurements at millimeter-level spatial resolution—requires manufacturing processes with very little room for error. Optical assembly, electronic integration, and system-level calibration all need to be robust, repeatable, and documented. You’ll be the engineer who makes that happen, working at the intersection of product design, manufacturing operations, and quality to turn complex photonic designs into production-ready reality.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Optical Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 3–5 years of process engineering experience in a manufacturing environment, preferably in optics, photonics, laser systems, precision instrumentation, or electronics.
• Hands-on experience developing and documenting manufacturing processes for complex electro-mechanical or opto-mechanical assemblies.
• Proficiency with process development tools and methods: DOE (Design of Experiments), SPC, process capability analysis, and FMEA.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, GD&T, and optical specifications.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a data-driven approach to decision-making.
• Experience with CAD tools (SolidWorks, AutoCAD, or similar) for fixture and tooling design.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills—you’ll work closely with R&D, quality, and production teams daily.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in fiber optic manufacturing processes—splicing, connectorization, fiber array assembly, or optical alignment.
• Familiarity with laser assembly, integration, or test processes.
• Knowledge of OFDR technology, swept wavelength lasers, or coherent optical systems.
• Working knowledge of ISO 9001 and/or AS9100 quality management system requirements.
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification.
• Experience with NPI processes in a low-to-medium volume, high-mix manufacturing environment.
• Proficiency with data analysis tools (Minitab, JMP, Python, or MATLAB).
• Exposure to cleanroom or ESD-controlled manufacturing environments.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and document manufacturing processes for OFDR systems and swept wavelength laser products, including optical assembly, fiber handling, electronics assembly, soldering, and system integration.
• Create and maintain detailed process documentation—work instructions, process flow diagrams, and control plans—that enable consistent, repeatable production.
• Develop and validate fixtures, tooling, and test setups to support new and existing manufacturing processes.
• Conduct process characterization studies (DOE, capability analysis) to establish robust process windows and identify key process parameters.
• Assist with establishing and maintaining standardized process control practices (SPC, ESD control and training, 6S, process auditing).
• Maintain a centralized list of equipment, keeping track of calibration requirements and maintenance schedules, working with the Quality and Operations teams to schedule and conduct maintenance and calibration.
• Develop and conduct in-house equipment calibration and maintenance (when applicable) and other cost cutting measures.
• Drive yield improvement initiatives by analyzing process data, identifying root causes of defects, and implementing corrective actions.
• Collaborate with supply chain and quality teams to qualify new materials, components, and vendors from a process capability perspective.
• Partner with R&D and design engineering to support the transition of new OFDR and swept laser products from prototype to volume production.
• Participate in design reviews, providing manufacturing feasibility input and identifying potential producibility challenges early in the design cycle.
• Develop manufacturing process plans for new products, including process flow, equipment requirements, cycle time estimates, and staffing needs.
• Build and refine pilot production processes, iterating with engineering to optimize for quality, throughput, and cost before full-rate production.
• Participate in process FMEAs (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) to proactively identify and mitigate manufacturing risks for new product launches.
• Define in-process inspection points and acceptance criteria in collaboration with the quality team.
• Provide day-to-day engineering support to the manufacturing floor, troubleshooting process issues and minimizing production downtime.
• Apply lean manufacturing principles and structured problem-solving methods (8D, 5-Why, fishbone) to drive continuous improvement in safety, quality, delivery, and cost.
• Support CAPA investigations with process analysis, root cause identification, and implementation of sustainable corrective actions.
• Work with the Quality team to analyze key process metrics (yield, cycle time, first-pass quality) and use data to assist with identifying improvement efforts.
• Collaborate with quality, supply chain, and operations teams to support internal and external audits.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation & benefits: comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, plus a company-sponsored 401(k) with employer match.
• Invest in your growth: tuition assistance, professional development funding, and support for Lean Six Sigma certification and industry training.
• Work that matters: the manufacturing processes you develop will directly determine the performance and reliability of photonic instruments used around the world.
• Innovation-driven culture: join a team where engineering rigor is valued, cross-functional collaboration is the norm, and you’ll see your work go from concept to production.
• New River Valley location: Blacksburg, VA is home to Virginia Tech, offering a vibrant college-town atmosphere, world-class outdoor recreation in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and an affordable cost of living.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees