Manufacturing Engineer; Optics

Abingdon, Oxfordshire | £45,000 to £58,000 + Equity + Private Healthcare + Pension + Share Options

Are you an Optics Manufacturing Engineer
, Optomechanical Manufacturing Engineer
, Photonics Manufacturing Engineer or Precision Manufacturing Engineer looking to build technology that enables the world's most advanced semiconductor devices?

This is an opportunity to join one of the UK's most exciting deep-tech scale-ups, developing cutting-edge Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) systems used by leading semiconductor manufacturers worldwide. Backed by major industry investors, including Applied Ventures, we're scaling rapidly and investing heavily in our manufacturing capability.

You'll play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between advanced engineering design and scalable production, ensuring that highly complex optical and optomechanical systems can be built with exceptional precision, repeatability and reliability.

If you thrive in environments where optics, lasers, photonics, precision mechanics, automation and manufacturing excellence intersect, we'd love to hear from you.

As an Optics Manufacturing Engineer
, you'll own the development and optimisation of manufacturing processes for highly complex optical, laser and precision mechatronic assemblies.

Working closely with Design Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain and Production teams, you'll help transform prototype designs into robust manufacturing processes that can scale without compromising performance.

This is a rare opportunity to influence both product design and manufacturing strategy while working on some of the most advanced metrology equipment in the semiconductor industry.

• Develop and implement manufacturing processes for high-precision optical and optomechanical assemblies
• Convert R&D and prototype builds into repeatable, scalable production workflows
• Design assembly methods, production tooling, fixtures and work instructions
• Drive manufacturing readiness and process capability for new product introductions
• Improve yield, repeatability and build efficiency across production operations

• Develop precision alignment processes for lasers, optics, fibre-optic systems and optomechanical subassemblies
• Establish best practices for handling sensitive optical components
• Create alignment, calibration and verification procedures suitable for production environments
• Ensure manufacturing processes maintain critical system performance specifications

• Partner with development engineers to transition new products into manufacture
• Provide Design for Manufacture (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) guidance
• Support pilot builds, design verification and early production ramp-up activities
• Identify manufacturing risks early and implement practical solutions
• Improve manufacturing throughput, quality and productivity
• Drive process optimisation initiatives and operational excellence activities
• Identify automation opportunities and assembly flow improvements
• Support capacity planning as manufacturing operations expand

• Design and implement precision tooling and assembly fixtures
• Develop production test systems and calibration equipment
• Ensure measurement systems provide reliable validation of product performance

• Work across Engineering, Production, Quality, Supplier Management and Customer Support teams
• Support supplier qualification and development activities
• Lead root cause investigations and corrective actions
• Provide technical mentorship and manufacturing expertise to production teams

We're interested in…