The Senior Optical Engineer will lead investigations into optical path issues, collaborate with NPI and test teams, develop optical measurement strategies, validate optical systems, and support production readiness.
We are seeking a Senior Optical Engineer to join our Optical NPI team to support the development and scaling of next-generation optical switch products from New Product Introduction (NPI) through high-volume manufacturing. This role focuses on the optical subsystem architecture, performance margins, tolerances, contamination sensitivity, and system stability, and will drive validation, characterization, and production readiness from prototypes through product maturity.
This is a highly cross-functional role working closely with NPI, test engineering, manufacturing teams, and customers to ensure robust optical performance and scalable production solutions.
Key Responsibilities
Qualifications
Preferred Qualifications
Salary Range: $140,000 – $180,000 per year
Work Location: San Jose, CA (onsite)
Foxconn Industrial Internet is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
This is a highly cross-functional role working closely with NPI, test engineering, manufacturing teams, and customers to ensure robust optical performance and scalable production solutions.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead deep-dive investigations of complex optical path issues, identifying root causes and driving improvements across design, test, fixtures, and manufacturing processes through structured experiments and DOE methodologies.
- Partner with NPI and Test Engineering teams to develop manufacturable optical measurement strategies, including selection and integration of optical test equipment for product development and production environments.
- Collaborate with customers and internal teams to define and implement optical inspection and cleaning processes to improve yield, reduce retest rates, and maintain optical performance standards.
- Support Site Acceptance Testing (SAT) for automated optical inspection and cleaning systems by defining acceptance criteria, conducting qualification and correlation studies, and closing readiness gaps prior to production release.
- Qualify optical test equipment and stations through measurement system analysis, including Cg/Cgk, GR&R, and station-to-station correlation studies.
- Analyze production and test data to identify performance gaps and implement corrective actions prior to mass production.
- Document technical findings, validation results, and process improvements to support design and manufacturing readiness.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field.
- 5+ years of experience in optical engineering, optical testing, or optical manufacturing/NPI supporting complex hardware systems in laboratory or production environments.
- Proven experience troubleshooting optical path issues, including fiber connectors, end-face quality, contamination control, and optical signal integrity.
- Hands-on experience implementing optical measurement systems, including automation, calibration, data logging, and traceability.
- Experience defining and validating optical inspection and cleaning processes in collaboration with cross-functional or customer teams.
- Strong experimental and analytical skills with experience conducting structured experiments (DOE) and applying data-driven decision making.
- Ability to produce clear technical documentation and communicate findings to engineering and manufacturing teams.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with optical switching products or high-speed networking optics, including fiber-based interconnects, optical modules, or optical assemblies.
- Familiarity with high-speed optical link testing and performance metrics such as BER, eye diagrams, jitter margin, and signal integrity analysis.
- Experience supporting equipment qualification and production readiness, including SAT planning and execution.
- Working knowledge of measurement system capability analysis including Cg/Cgk, GR&R, and correlation studies.
- Experience working with mechanical designs and interpreting 2D/3D CAD drawings.
Salary Range: $140,000 – $180,000 per year
Work Location: San Jose, CA (onsite)
Foxconn Industrial Internet is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) Cupertino, California, USA Office
Cupertino, United States
Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) San Jose, California, USA Office
San Jose, United States, 0
Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) Santa Clara, California, USA Office
Santa Clara, United States, 0
Similar Jobs
Aerospace • Hardware • Information Technology • Software
Lead end-to-end design, build, test, and flight-qualification of coherent optical transceivers and free-space optical assemblies. Perform optical design, ray tracing, tolerancing, stray-light/ghost analysis, opto-mechanical packaging, and characterize modulation quality, receiver sensitivity, wavefront performance, pointing stability, and thermal/EM performance to scale bench hardware to space-qualified manufacturing.
Top Skills:
Balanced DetectionBeam ExpandersBeam ProfilersBeam SplittersBias NetworksCoherent Optical TransceiversDriver AmplifiersFiber SplittersGhost AnalysisHigh-Speed OscilloscopeInterferometersIq Modulation/DemodulationLasersLensesMirrorsNetwork AnalyzerOptical Design SoftwareOptical HybridOptical ModulatorsOptical Spectrum Analyzer (Osa)Opto-Mechanical PackagingPhotodiodesPower MetersRay Tracing SoftwareSpectrum AnalyzerStray Light AnalysisTelescopesTiaWavefront Sensors
Aerospace
Lead design and implementation of multi-threaded embedded C/C++ software for Linux/RTOS/bare-metal on multi-core SoCs. Develop drivers and data/control plane functions for RF, antenna, and optical systems; integrate software with hardware, debug using SW/HW tools, champion CI/CD and TDD, and mentor junior engineers. Collaborate across teams to ensure performance, reliability, and secure high-speed data handling for space-based communications.
Top Skills:
AgileAntenna SystemsBare-MetalCC++CanCi/CdCoresightEncryptionEthernetI2CI3CInterlakenJ-LinkJ-TraceJesdJtagLauterbach/Trace32LinuxLinux NetworkingMulti-Core SocOptical SystemsPcieRf TransceiversRtosSatellite CommunicationsScaled AgileSpiSwdTest-Driven Development (Tdd)
Hardware
Design, develop, build and qualify high‑precision optical subsystems and metrology for inspection tools. Tasks include optical system design, tolerancing and stray‑light analysis, alignment and metrology process development, test‑stand design, modeling (sequential and non‑sequential), supplier selection, integration, debugging, and cross‑discipline coordination to meet system performance specifications.
Top Skills:
Code VLighttoolsMatlabPythonZemax
What you need to know about the San Francisco Tech Scene
San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area attracts more startup funding than any other region in the world. Home to Stanford University and UC Berkeley, leading VC firms and several of the world’s most valuable companies, the Bay Area is the place to go for anyone looking to make it big in the tech industry. That said, San Francisco has a lot to offer beyond technology thanks to a thriving art and music scene, excellent food and a short drive to several of the country’s most beautiful recreational areas.
Key Facts About San Francisco Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 365,500; 13.9% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Google, Apple, Salesforce, Meta
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, fintech, consumer technology, software
- Funding Landscape: $50.5 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, Greylock Partners, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins
- Research Centers and Universities: Stanford University; University of California, Berkeley; University of San Francisco; Santa Clara University; Ames Research Center; Center for AI Safety; California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
