Principal Engineer, Equipment

Job Summary

We are seeking a Principal Engineer, Equipment to be the company's senior technical authority for equipment strategy and engineering in photonic manufacturing. The role will own the multi-year equipment roadmap, capital planning, equipment specifications, qualification, and performance across photonic bonding, optical/electrical test, and burn-in. This position will also lead strategic OEM relationships and provide technical leadership to ensure equipment delivers world-class capability, reliability, throughput, and quality.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the multi-year equipment technology and capital roadmap for photonic assembly, bonding, optical/electrical test, and burn-in, aligned with product and business growth plans.
• Establish equipment requirements and technical specifications for die attach, flip-chip, hybrid bonding, active/passive optical alignment, precision placement, test, and burn-in equipment.
• Serve as the senior technical interface with equipment OEMs and strategic suppliers, driving technology roadmaps, technical negotiations, FAT/SAT, supplier performance, service agreements, and total cost of ownership.
• Own equipment performance metrics including OEE, uptime, MTBF, MTTR, throughput/UPH, and utilization, and lead structured improvement and root-cause activities to eliminate chronic equipment issues.
• Define and approve equipment buy-off, qualification, and acceptance standards, including Cp/Cpk, MSA, Gauge R&R, FAT/SAT, capability studies, and marathon runs, ensuring equipment meets process and quality requirements.
• Establish equipment maintenance, calibration, spare-parts, lifecycle, EHS, and change-control standards, while ensuring accurate equipment records across SAP PM/MES and maintaining full asset traceability.
• Mentor equipment engineers and technicians and lead technical alignment across manufacturing, process engineering, quality, corporate engineering, global sister sites, and equipment suppliers.

Core Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Mechatronics, Optical/Photonics Engineering, or a related discipline, with 15+ years of relevant equipment engineering experience in semiconductor, photonics, optoelectronics, or advanced electronics manufacturing, including experience in a principal/technical leadership role.
• Proven expertise in photonic assembly/bonding, optical/electrical test or burn-in equipment, with strong knowledge of equipment capability, Cp/Cpk, MSA/GR&R, SPC, DOE, FMEA, equipment qualification, reliability, and precision equipment subsystems.
• Demonstrated success in equipment strategy, capital planning, OEM/vendor management, technical specification negotiation, and complex equipment problem-solving, with excellent stakeholder-management and communication skills. Willingness to travel internationally for supplier engagement, FAT/SAT, and global technical alignment.