{"id":2658425,"url":"https://alion.io/job/great-sky-photonics-process-development-engineer","title":"Photonics Process Development Engineer","company":{"id":2372716,"name":"Great Sky","domain":"greatsky.ai","url":"https://alion.io/company/greatsky","size_band":"11-50","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":null},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":null,"employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Boulder, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":140000,"max":180000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":180000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"KLayout","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-15T22:53:35Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-15","last_verified_at":"2026-10-17T14:40:10Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":1,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":1},"description":"About Us\nGreat Sky is a technology startup based with a mission to rebuild AI from first principles. We are pursuing neuroscience-inspired hardware and algorithms that overcome the greatest challenges in scaling AI systems.\nWe are seeking a highly motivated Photonics Process Development Engineer to develop the cryogenic photonic networks central to our technology platform.\nIn this role, you will contribute to the design of SiN-based passive photonic components and take full ownership of the R&D prototyping lifecycle. You will perform hands-on device fabrication at a cleanroom facility located near our Boulder office.\nThis is a high-ownership position with substantial influence on the pace and direction of our hardware development.\nHow You’ll Make An Impact:\nOwn end-to-end prototype fabrication runs in a research cleanroom environment.\n\nDevelop, run, and optimize manufacturable fabrication processes for integrated photonic devices and superconducting devices, including SNSPDs.\n\nDevelop and characterize unit processes, including electron-beam and optical lithography, thin-film deposition, dry etching, and planarization.\n\nPerform in-line and post-fabrication metrology (e.g., SEM, AFM, ellipsometry, profilometry) to control critical dimensions, film properties, and sidewall quality.\n\nTrack yield, uniformity, and process variation, and lead root-cause analysis of fabrication issues.\n\nWrite standard operating procedures (SOPs) and turn process flows into stable Processes of Record (POR).\n\nDefine and maintain the design rules and layer-stack information that go into our internal Process Design Kits (PDKs).\n\nWork closely with design, test, packaging, and systems integration teams to correlate device performance with fabrication metrics, speeding up our design-build-test-learn cycles.\n\nWhat you bring:\nRequired:\nBS, MS, or PhD in physics, electrical engineering, optics, materials science, or a related field; or equivalent practical experience.\n\nHands-on experience in microfabrication, nanofabrication, or semiconductor processing.\n\nExperience fabricating devices on at least one of these platforms: silicon photonics, silicon nitride, or superconducting electronics.\n\nHands-on experience with core cleanroom processes such as e-beam or optical lithography, thin-film deposition (e.g., LPCVD, PECVD, sputtering), and reactive ion etching.\n\nSkill with process metrology and characterization tools (e.g., SEM, AFM, ellipsometry, profilometry).\n\nA track record of developing, documenting, and troubleshooting fabrication processes using data.\n\nPreferred:\nExperience with SNSPD fabrication, including superconducting thin films (e.g., NbN, NbTiN, WSi).\n\nExperience with low-loss SiN waveguide processing (e.g., thick LPCVD SiN, stress management, high-temperature annealing, CMP).\n\nExperience with heterogeneous or hybrid integration methods such as bump bonding or fusion bonding.\n\nExperience transferring processes to external fabs or working with foundries.\n\nFamiliarity with GDS tools (e.g., KLayout) for mask preparation and pattern data checks.\n\nPrevious fabrication experience in shared, multi-user facilities such as university cleanrooms, national laboratories, or advanced commercial R&D centers.\n\nBenefits and Perks\nMeaningful equity ownership in an early-stage deep tech company\n\nEmployer-matched 401(k)\n\nHealth, dental, vision, and life insurance\n\nFlexible PTO\n\nSupport for ongoing learning, conference attendance, and skill development\n\nOur culture is onsite by default (we're founded by scientists who are used to working in the lab), with flexibility for hybrid arrangements. For the right person and role, we're open to filling roles remotely","description_format":"text","description_chars":3679,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity","Life insurance"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Optical Communications","AI Chips & Accelerators"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-15T23:43:43Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"Filed H-1B visas in the last two years","filings_12m":0,"filings_prev_12m":1,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":null,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-15T11:24:14+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":1,"expected_fill_days":20,"reasons":["conf:0","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-10-17T05:46:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":180000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/great-sky-photonics-process-development-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/great-sky-photonics-process-development-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-17T16:33:59Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":22733,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-18T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":2372716},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=2372716"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fgreat-sky-photonics-process-development-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fgreat-sky-photonics-process-development-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fgreat-sky-photonics-process-development-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/great-sky-photonics-process-development-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fgreat-sky-photonics-process-development-engineer"}]}