Sr. Engineer, Test Development - Photonics

Ayar Labs • San Jose, CA

5d • $170,000 - $200,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Ayar Labs is seeking an experienced and motivated Test Development Engineer to ensure the long-term reliability and robustness of advanced photonic components and systems. The engineer will lead reliability testing, analysis, and improvement initiatives from design conception through manufacturing and deployment, helping bring dependable photonic products to market. This is an on-site role in San Jose.

Requirements

• B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, or a related field.
• At least 3 years of experience in photonics reliability and test engineering, with a track record of bringing reliable photonic products to market.
• Understanding of photonic device physics, semiconductor materials, optical waveguides, laser diodes, photodetectors, and photonic integrated circuits (PICs).
• Experience with reliability testing methodologies, accelerated life testing, statistical analysis, and failure analysis techniques.
• Hands-on experience with bench-top testing, reliability testing equipment, and analytical tools.
• Proficiency with statistical analysis software such as JMP, Minitab, MATLAB, or Python, including Python for data analysis and test program/result database management.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with dedication to solving problems or completing assignments on schedule.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative, fast-paced, interdisciplinary team environment.

Nice To Haves

• Master's or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, or a related field.
• Experience with photonic technologies relevant to silicon photonics.
• Familiarity with qualification processes for high-volume manufacturing environments.
• Experience with FMEA, FTA, and other reliability prediction tools.
• Publications or presentations in photonics reliability.
• Hands-on experience with lab test equipment, including BERT, oscilloscope/DCA, OSA, and signal generators, for characterizing signal integrity, eye diagrams, BER, jitter, and optical performance metrics.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement reliability plans for new and existing photonic products, including test methodologies, acceleration factors, and sample sizes.
• Partner with firmware, analog/mixed-signal, digital, and systems engineering teams.
• Develop and maintain Python-based test scripts and automation frameworks for regression and characterization testing.
• Design, execute, and oversee accelerated aging, environmental, and operational life tests on photonic components and modules.
• Analyze reliability test data, perform statistical analysis, and develop reliability models such as Weibull and log-normal models to predict product lifetime and inform design improvements.
• Prepare detailed reliability reports, present findings to cross-functional teams and management, maintain reliability data records, and manage the database for the testing program and results.

What This Job Offers

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