Senior Software Engineer, Equipment Control

Senior Software Engineer, Equipment Control – Semiconductor Capital Equipment – Axcelis Technologies

Axcelis Technologies is seeking a Senior Software Equipment Control Engineer to join our software engineering organization and play a key role in defining the control architecture for our next‑generation ion implanter platforms. This position is focused on the design, development, and optimization of deterministic, high reliability control software integrating complex electromechanical subsystems such as motion, robotics, vacuum, power delivery, gas handling, and safety systems.

As semiconductor manufacturing systems increase in complexity and precision, control software has become a defining platform capability rather than an implementation detail. This team was formed to proactively evolve control software architecture ahead of those demands—addressing scalability, reliability, and testability challenges that traditional approaches struggle to meet.

In this role, you will work at the intersection of real‑time control, hardware integration, and modern software architecture, collaborating closely with hardware, systems, and process engineering teams. This role offers a unique opportunity to influence platform‑level control strategies, system architectures, and testing methodologies that will power Axcelis tools for the next decade and beyond. Accordingly, the role addresses emerging system‑level constraints that require re‑thinking traditional control software approaches.

While familiarity with existing control platforms is important, the primary focus is on defining forward‑looking capabilities rather than maintaining established implementations.

• Enjoy working close to real hardware and physical systems
• Prefer ambiguous, early‑stage architectural problems over well‑worn implementation paths
• Care deeply about correctness, safety, and long‑term maintainability
• Want their technical decisions to materially shape how complex machines behave in the real world

Own the design and implementation of equipment control software for next‑generation ion implanters, spanning:

• Low‑level hardware interfaces (IO, PLCs, motion controllers)
• Real‑time and deterministic control loops
• Robotics, vacuum, power supplies, gas delivery, and safety interlocks
• High‑level sequencing, automation, and tool state management

Lead system integration efforts, combining early‑stage architectural exploration with production‑grade implementation across hardware, software, process, and systems engineering to define control strategies, interfaces, and performance objectives.

Design and implement robust control algorithms to support precise, repeatable, and safe tool operation under real‑world factory conditions.

Design and evolve component‑based and service‑oriented architectures, leveraging microservices where appropriate to support scalability, testability, and long‑term maintainability. Define overall system and solution architectures, implementation strategies, and software integration approaches for complex equipment control platforms. Leverage existing and legacy codebases to inform and accelerate new designs while ensuring functional continuity.

Drive rigorous verification and validation strategies using:

• Software‑in‑the‑Loop (SIL)
• Hardware‑in‑the‑Loop (HIL)
• Simulation environments and real equipment testing

Design and automate end‑to‑end SIL/HIL test workflows, including CI‑driven execution.

Implement fault injection and stress scenarios (e.g., voltage drops, sensor failures, communication loss) to validate system robustness and failure recovery behavior.

Perform deep root‑cause analysis of hardware/software interactions and field issues.

Contribute to and enhance CI/CD pipelines using Git, Git Hub Actions, and automated test frameworks such as xUnit. Champion engineering best practices including code reviews, test automation, and continuous improvement in performance, reliability, and developer productivity. Mentor junior engineers and provide technical…