Staff / Sr. Staff HW Test Automation Engineer
Lightmatter
$154,000 - $213,000 / year
Need a reasonable accommodation to apply or interview? Contact us.
JobMinglr uses automated technology to recommend jobs based on profile information and job preferences. Match Score does not determine eligibility for a position, prevent a user from viewing or applying to a job, or make hiring decisions on behalf of an employer.
Description
Lightmatter is leading the revolution in AI data center infrastructure, enabling the next giant leaps in human progress. The company invented the world’s first 3D-stacked photonics engine, Passage™, capable of connecting thousands to millions of processors at the speed of light in extreme-scale data centers for the most advanced AI and HPC workloads.
Lightmatter raised $400 million in its Series D round, reaching a valuation of $4.4 billion. We will continue to accelerate the development of data center photonics and grow every department at Lightmatter!
If you're passionate about tackling complex challenges, making an impact, and being an expert in your craft, join our team of brilliant scientists, engineers, and accomplished industry leaders.
Lightmatter is (re)inventing the future of computing with light!
Product Engineering builds the software that brings up, characterizes, and qualifies Lightmatter's photonic chips on real hardware — from bench-top bring-up through production test on automated test equipment (ATE). You'll write the code that drives instruments, testers, wafer probers, and lab automation to bring a chip to life and prove it works. Test software infrastructure at Lightmatter spans multiple platforms, wafer test, hardware validation, and laser/optical test, and this role often acts as the bridge between engineers working at the bench and the broader test software team.
As a Hardware Test Automation Engineer you'll have the opportunity to work across some combination of: an internal test software framework (Java/Python-based), industry-standard ATE test method and testflow development, wafer prober integration, instrument control (optical and electrical sources, meters, sensors), embedded/firmware interfaces on the hardware side, and data pipelines from lab equipment to structured results.
Responsibilities
- Learn the hardware you're automating well enough to make informed software decisions about it.
- Design and build test software that automates device bring-up, characterization, and production test sequences across bench and ATE environments.
- Develop and maintain test methods, test flows, and instrument control code depending on level and project while writing code and reviewing code are both daily parts of the role.
- Work directly with hardware and characterization engineers to understand their needs and translate device physics and test requirements into working, repeatable test software.
- Build and maintain data logging and results pipelines so test data is captured accurately and usable downstream (metric computation, yield analysis, production handoff).
- Debug test hardware/software integration issues, working across the device under test, the fixture, the instrument, and the test code to find root cause.
- Support test program releases to internal test cells and, at senior levels, to external test facilities.
- Communicate daily with the team on progress and blockers, and spend regular time in the lab working hands-on with hardware.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or related field.
- 8+ years of experience in hardware test software, ATE systems, or test architecture, ideally in semiconductor or photonics.
- Track record of owning test software architecture for a product line, including decisions on how the framework scales across projects and teams.
- Deep hands-on experience with ATE test method/test flow development and/or embedded test frameworks for hardware test automation, plus fluency with instrumentation automation (SCPI/VISA or equivalent) at a level where you can teach it to others.
- History of mentoring engineers and driving cross-functional technical decisions with hardware, characterization, and manufacturing teams.
- Can articulate, end to end, how they scoped, planned, implemented, and validated an automation project.
- Comfortable working at the hardware/software boundary — reading and reasoning about embedded software (C/C++), controls, or firmware well enough to co-develop directly with the engineers who own it.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master's/PhD with 3+ years, of experience in hardware test software, ATE systems, or test architecture, ideally in semiconductor or photonics.
- Experience integrating ATE with wafer-level hardware (probers, handlers) is a strong plus.
- Experience with photonic test instrumentation
We offer competitive compensation. The base salary range for this role determined based on location, experience, educational background, and market data.
Benefits
- Comprehensive Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
- Retirement Savings Matching Program
- Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
- Generous Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
- Paid Family Leave
- Short Term & Long Term Disability
- Training & Development
- Commuter Benefits
- Flexible, hybrid workplace model
- Equity grants (applicable to full-time employees)
Benefits eligibility may vary depending on your employment status and location. Lightmatter recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law.
Export Control
Candidates should have capacity to comply with the federally mandated requirements of U.S. export control laws.
Benefits
- health insurance
- stock options
- life insurance
About this role
Lightmatter is building the photonic infrastructure for next-generation AI data centers, and this role sits at the intersection of that hardware innovation and the test software that proves it works. You'd own test automation across the full lifecycle—from initial chip bring-up on the bench through production test on automated equipment—writing the code that drives instruments, probers, and lab automation while working directly with hardware and characterization engineers to translate device physics into repeatable test sequences.
This is a senior-level position suited for someone with 8+ years shipping test software in semiconductor or similar domains. You'll need deep hands-on expertise in ATE test method development, instrumentation control (SCPI/VISA), and the ability to reason comfortably across the hardware/software boundary—reading embedded code, debugging integration issues, and mentoring others on the same. The role demands someone who can own test architecture decisions, scope and validate automation projects end to end, and spend regular time in the lab working with real hardware alongside the team.
The position is full-time and in-office in Boston, with a salary range of $154,000–$213,000 plus equity and standard benefits including health coverage, retirement matching, and paid family leave. Experience with wafer-level integration or photonic test instrumentation is a plus but not required.
How this employer is doing
solid
- H1B: Sponsors Visas
- Recently Raised Funding
- Sponsors Visas
In the news
Lightmatter - 2026 Funding Rounds & List of Investors, Tracxn
This role's local market on JobMinglr
Pay for this role
$154,000 to $213,000 per year
That is the employer's posted range, and where you land in it is usually decided in one conversation. Before that conversation, run the numbers: analyze an offer for this role.
Before you apply, worth reading
How JobMinglr reads this job
Every listing here is scored against your profile before you apply: skills overlap, experience level, location and work arrangement, each weighted and explained. You see the score and the reasons, not just a list. How the matching works.