MKS Instruments, Inc.

Senior Director, Optical Engineering

MKS Instruments, Inc.$260K — $300K *
Aerospace & Defense
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in STEM (advanced degree preferred); minimum 10 years in an engineering leadership role in optics or related field
  • Proven problem-solving skills complemented by strong analytical and technical abilities
  • Excellent communication skills for conveying technical information across all levels
  • Thorough knowledge of product development and quality improvement tools like FMEA and 8D
  • Ability to foster a culture of innovation and accountability within teams

Responsibilities

  • Direct development and maintenance of measurement systems and test software solutions
  • Establish and execute a multidisciplinary TME strategy and objectives
  • Align TME strategies with design and engineering departments for comprehensive analysis
  • Develop a subject matter expert team in optomechanical precision
  • Collaborate with teams to estimate project costs and optimize measurement strategies

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health insurance (medical, dental, vision)
  • 401(k) with company match
  • 12 paid holidays, sick time, and 15 paid vacation days
  • 6 weeks fully paid parental leave
  • Adoption assistance and tuition reimbursement
Full Job Description
You Will Make an Impact By:
  • Leading and inspiring a high-performing, multidisciplinary Development Engineering team, setting engineering strategy and technical vision. You will be the senior authority making engineering decisions with clear accountability for financial performance, program execution, and long-term business impact.
  • Driving product development and product test from definition through production, ensuring programs are appropriately resourced, delivered on time and within budget, and meet performance, quality, and reliability targets.
  • Developing long-term technology and R&D roadmaps aligned with customer and market needs, guiding engineering priorities and investment decisions.
  • Partnering cross-functionally with manufacturing, automation, quality, supply chain, operations, and product management partners to align engineering strategy with business objectives, customer needs, and production readiness.

Skills You Bring:
  • BS in STEM (advanced degree a plus) with 12+ years leading optics, opto-mechanics, lasers, or photonics teams and scaling high-impact engineering organizations.
  • Defines architectures and requirements, drives trade studies, and integrates hardware/software/manufacturing/test to deliver reliable, high-performance products.
  • Builds and executes roadmaps that align engineering investment to customer needs and business strategy-balancing innovation, risk, cost, and time-to-market.
  • Data-driven problem solver fluent in PDP/FMEA/DfX/8D with strong executive communication to drive alignment, accountability, and continuous improvement.


Supervisory Scope:

  • This position includes direct and second level management of a group of approximately 10 FTE, as well as managing associated budgets


Physical Demands and Working Conditions:

  • Office and laboratory work is required, with work in a cleanroom environment up to 50% of the time. Wearing of Personal Protective Equipment as well as cleanroom garb is required


  • Must be able to lift, move, or position equipment up to 35 pounds while working in a laboratory environment


  • Noise level in the laboratory environment can temporarily be elevated, but does not typically require PPE


  • Travel Requirements: Up to 20% Travel is required, including international travel


We are interested in a qualified candidate who is eligible to work in the United States. However, we will not be sponsoring work visas for this position, at this time.

Compensation and Benefits:
Salary Pay Range: $260,000 - $300,000 per year. This range is a good faith estimate of the expected salary range for this position, based on a wide range of factors including qualifications, experience and training, operational and business needs and other considerations permitted by law. At MKS, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for the role.

Bonus: This position is eligible for a discretionary annual bonus, in an amount to be determined by MKS [or as applicable].

Benefits: MKS offers a comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance coverage (medical, dental and vision), 401(k) with company match, life and disability insurance, 12 paid holidays, sick time, 15 paid vacation days, [6 weeks fully paid] parental leave, adoption assistance and tuition reimbursement [and for participation in any stock programs, signing bonus, etc.].

#LI-EK1

Globally, our policy is to recruit individuals from wide and diverse backgrounds. However, certain positions require access to controlled goods and technologies subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) or Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Applicants for these positions may need to be "U.S. persons." "U.S. persons" are generally defined as U.S. citizens, noncitizen nationals, lawful permanent residents (or, green card holders), individuals granted asylum, and individuals admitted as refugees.

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About MKS Instruments, Inc.

MKS Instruments, Inc. is a global provider of instruments, subsystems and process control solutions that measure, monitor, deliver, analyze, power and control critical parameters of advanced manufacturing processes to improve process performance and productivity for our customers. Our products are derived from our core competencies in pressure measurement and control, flow measurement and control, gas and vapor delivery, gas composition analysis, residual gas analysis, leak detection, control technology, ozone generation and delivery, RF & DC power, reactive gas generation, vacuum technology, photonics, sub-micron positioning, vibration isolation and optics. Our primary served markets include semiconductor capital equipment, general industrial, life and health sciences, research and defense.
Learn more about MKS Instruments, Inc.
Size
6,000 employees
Market Cap
$5.5 billion
Industry
Net Income
$350.1 million
5 Year Trend
+17.9%
Revenue
$2.3 billion
NASDAQ

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