Koch Industries

Senior Optical Engineer

Koch Industries$160K — $220K *
Technical Services
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Master's degree in Optical Engineering, Physics, Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field.
  • Minimum 10 years of experience in optical packaging, SiPh packaging, or semiconductor laser/device packaging.
  • Hands-on experience in optical device packaging processes, including die attach and optical alignment.
  • Strong knowledge of semiconductor wafer processes and their interactions with packaging.
  • Proven experience leading technology development projects and managing cross-functional teams.
  • Excellent communication skills and experience with vendor management.
  • Willingness to travel domestically and internationally as required.

Responsibilities

  • Lead technology development for co-packaged optics (CPO) and optical packaging solutions.
  • Define and execute R&D packaging solutions, covering adhesive selection and thermal considerations.
  • Plan and conduct feasibility studies, design-of-experiments, and reliability testing.
  • Manage projects and coordinate with vendors while overseeing risks and budgets.
  • Lead cross-functional team collaboration, ensuring integration with global sites and vendors.
  • Engage in hands-on lab work including prototyping and optical fiber handling.
  • Identify yield drivers, implement solutions, and scale up technologies to production.
  • Prepare documentation and interact with external partners.

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, and vision coverage.
  • Flexible spending and health savings accounts.
  • Life insurance and disability coverage.
  • Retirement plan and paid vacation/time off.
  • Educational assistance and family support benefits including parental leave and adoption assistance.
Full Job Description
Your Role

Experienced senior-level optical engineer to lead technology development for co-packaged optics (CPO). The role combines hands-on optical and SiPh device packaging engineering with project/technical management, vendor collaboration, cross-functional and global team leadership, and R&D to bring manufacturable CPO solutions to production. Candidate must have deep process engineering experience in SiPh packaging, semiconductor laser/device packaging, optical fiber handling, and/or semiconductor wafer processes.

What You Will Do
  • Lead technology development activities for CPO and associated optical packaging solutions.
  • Define and execute packaging solutions R&D: die attach, adhesive selection, wire bonding, fiber attach, alignment, thermal and stress considerations, and material qualification.
  • Plan and run feasibility studies, design-of-experiments (DOE), pilot builds, and reliability testing.
  • Project and technical management (planning, schedules, budgets, risk management, vendor coordination).
  • Manage and lead cross-functional teams (design, manufacturing, reliability, supply chain, quality) and collaborate with global sites/vendors.
  • Hands-on lab/bench work: prototyping, process setup, process optimization, optical fiber handling, optical alignments, test automation, and test integration.
  • Identify process/packaging yield drivers, implement corrective actions, and scale technologies toward production.
  • Prepare technical documents, reports, presentations, and interact with external partners and suppliers.
  • Mentor junior engineers and build team capabilities.

Core Competencies & Behavioral Skills
  • Leadership: able to lead technical teams and mentor others.
  • Communication: clear technical writing, presentation, and stakeholder management.
  • Problem solving: structured problem solving and root-cause investigation.
  • Collaboration: successful cross-functional and global team player.
  • Planning & Execution: organizes complex programs, meets milestones, manages risks.


Who You Are (Basic Qualifications)
  • Master's degree or higher in Optical Engineering, Physics, Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, or related field.
  • Minimum 10 years of industry experience in optical packaging, SiPh packaging, or semiconductor laser/device packaging with strong process engineering background.
  • Demonstrated hands-on experience in optical device packaging: die attach, adhesives, wire bonding, optical fiber management, optical alignment, materials selection.
  • Strong knowledge of semiconductor wafer processes and interactions with packaging (e.g., thermal budgets, contamination control).
  • Proven track record leading technology development projects and cross-functional/global teams.
  • Excellent communication and people management skills; experience managing vendors and supplier qualification.
  • Willingness and ability to travel as required (domestic and international travel).
  • SiPh (silicon photonics) packaging and integration processes.
  • Experience in process development and optimization related to optical devices.
  • Optical fiber knowledge: theory, handling, cleaving, splicing, ferrule/array assembly, fiber pigtail techniques.
  • Die attach processes, bonding materials (solders, adhesives), curing processes, and reliability implications.
  • Thermal analysis and mechanical/stress analysis for packages.
  • Materials science for packaging: coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch mitigation, adhesives, and underfills.
  • Wire bonding and alternative electrical interconnects; knowledge of flip-chip and other interconnect technologies.
  • Test/measurement for optical devices: insertion loss, return loss, optical alignment tolerances.
  • Familiarity with reliability testing standards (thermal cycling, HTOL, moisture, mechanical shock/vibration).


What Will Put You Ahead
  • Prior CPO development experience and understanding of system-level integration.
  • Experience with design-for-manufacturability (DFM) and design-for-test (DFT) in optical packaging and optical devices.
  • Background in automation for assembly/align/test, process control, and statistics (SPC).
  • Multi-site/global program management experience.
  • Experience with supplier development and contract/manufacturing scale-up.


For this role, we anticipate paying $160,000 - $220,000 per year. This role is eligible for variable pay, issued as a monetary bonus or in another form.

At Koch companies, we are entrepreneurs. This means we openly challenge the status quo, find new ways to create value and get rewarded for our individual contributions. Any compensation range provided for a role is an estimate determined by available market data. The actual amount may be higher or lower than the range provided considering each candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, and geographic location. If you have questions, please speak to your recruiter about the flexibility and detail of our compensation philosophy.

Hiring Philosophy

All Koch companies value diversity of thought, perspectives, aptitudes, experiences, and backgrounds. We are Military Ready and Second Chance employers. Learn more about our hiring philosophy here .

Our Benefits

Our goal is for each employee, and their families, to live fulfilling and healthy lives. We provide essential resources and support to build and maintain physical, financial, and emotional strength - focusing on overall wellbeing so you can focus on what matters most. Our benefits plan includes - medical, dental, vision, flexible spending and health savings accounts, life insurance, ADD, disability, retirement, paid vacation/time off, educational assistance, and may also include infertility assistance, paid parental leave and adoption assistance. Specific eligibility criteria is set by the applicable Summary Plan Description, policy or guideline and benefits may vary by geographic region. If you have questions on what benefits apply to you, please speak to your recruiter.

Additionally, everyone has individual work and personal needs. We seek to enable the best work environment that helps you and the business work together to produce superior results.

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About Koch Industries

Koch Industries, Inc. is an American privately-held multinational conglomerate corporation based in Wichita, Kansas. Its subsidiaries are involved in the manufacturing, refining, and distribution of petroleum, chemicals, energy, fiber, intermediates and polymers, minerals, fertilizers, pulp and paper, chemical technology equipment, ranching, finance, commodities trading, and investing. Koch owns Infor, Invista, Georgia-Pacific, Molex, Flint Hills Resources, Koch Pipeline, Koch Fertilizer, Koch Minerals, Matador Cattle Company, i360, and Guardian Industries. The firm employs 120,000 people in 60 countries, with about half of its business in the United States. The company is the largest non-Canadian landowner in the Athabasca oil sands. With annual revenues of $110 billion by 2014, the company is the largest privately held company in the United States. In 2007, it was ranked as the largest privately held company. If Koch Industries had been a public company in 2013, it would have ranked 17th in the Fortune 500. The company was founded by its namesake, Fred C. Koch, in 1940 after he developed an innovative crude oil refining process. Fred C. Koch died in 1967 and his majority interest in the company was split amongst his four sons. In June 1983, after a bitter legal and boardroom battle, the stakes of Frederick R. Koch and William "Bill" Koch were bought out for $1.1 billion and Charles Koch and David Koch became majority owners in the company. Charles owns 42% of the company; trusts for the benefit of Elaine Tettemer Marshall and Elaine's children, Preston Marshall and E. Pierce Marshall Jr., own 16% of the company. The heirs of David Koch, who died on August 23, 2019, own the balance, 42%, of the corporation.
Learn more about Koch Industries
Industry
Founded
1940

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