{"id":1437965,"url":"https://alion.io/job/hyperlight-rd-operations-automation-engineer-intern","title":"R&D Operations & Automation Engineer Intern","company":{"id":3370,"name":"HyperLight","domain":"hyperlightcorp.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/hyperlight","size_band":"201-500","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workable","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":95,"open_postings":14,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":140,"computed_at":"2026-09-29T05:45:00Z"}},"role":"DevOps","role_family":"DevOps","seniority":"intern","employment_type":"internship","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"explicit","locations":["Cambridge, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":28,"max":34,"currency":"USD","period":"hour","gross":null,"usd_annual":68000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Agentic Workflows","optional":false},{"name":"AI Agents","optional":false},{"name":"LLM","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-28T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-28","last_verified_at":"2026-09-29T23:18:39Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":2,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":2},"description":"HyperLight is at the forefront of the commercialization of thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) integrated photonics - a material and process technology that is enabling high-performance, scalable optical components across AI/datacom infrastructure, hyperscale computing, quantum computing, sensing, and more. Founded in 2018 and backed by leading venture capital, we've built a team and a platform focused on real-world mass deployment of TFLN photonics technology.\nAt the core of our work is the TFLN Chiplet™ platform - a modular, integrated architecture designed for scalability, manufacturability, and seamless integration into complex systems. It offers a rare combination of extraordinary performance and industrial readiness, enabling system developers across applications to deploy the technology quickly and at scale. We partner with our customers and suppliers from conceptualization, design, and prototyping through mass production to ensure smooth and rapid deployment of TFLN photonic technology.\nAs HyperLight continues to grow, we are looking for an R&D Operations & Automation Engineer Intern to join our team. This role provides a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of R&D operations, engineering automation, data, and advanced photonic technology.\nYou will work closely with R&D and cross-functional engineering teams to improve how development activities are planned, executed, tracked, and analyzed. You will help identify opportunities to improve R&D workflows, develop automation solutions and engineering tools, and use data to improve engineering efficiency and accelerate development cycles.\nThis role is ideal for someone who enjoys understanding complex engineering processes, solving open-ended problems, and applying engineering, data analysis, automation, and programming to real-world R&D challenges.\nJoin us to make a real-world impact in a fast-paced, collaborative, and high-growth environment!\nWhat You’ll Gain\nHands-on experience in a fast-paced photonics R&D and semiconductor manufacturing environment for advanced technology\nPractical experience improving and automating R&D workflows, from planning and execution through testing and analysis\nOpportunities to apply programming, data analysis, and automation to solve real engineering challenges\nCross-functional exposure across design, fabrication, characterization, testing, and operations, with mentorship from experienced engineers and direct impact on next-generation photonic technologies\nResponsibilities\nSupport the planning, tracking, and execution of R&D projects, experiments, and engineering lots\nAnalyze R&D workflows to identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and opportunities for process improvement\nDevelop automation solutions and engineering tools to streamline R&D workflows and reduce repetitive manual work\nUse programming, data analysis, and dashboards to automate recurring tasks and improve visibility into R&D activities\nAnalyze engineering and operational data to identify trends, anomalies, and root causes, supporting data-driven decisions and improvements in cycle time and execution efficiency\nCollaborate with cross-functional teams to standardize R&D workflows, develop SOPs, and drive continuous improvement\nRequirements\nCurrently pursuing a Bachelor’s, Master’s in Physics, Applied Physics, Photonics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science or a related technical field\nExperience and strong interest in R&D operations, process improvement, and engineering automation\nProgramming experience with Python or similar coding languages for engineering, data analysis, or automation applications\nStrong engineering fundamentals and demonstrated analytical and problem-solving skills\nAbility to analyze engineering data and translate findings into practical improvements\nStrong organizational skills and ability to understand and improve complex engineering workflows\nExperience with AI/LLM tools, AI agents, or agentic workflows for engineering automation, data analysis, or workflow optimization is a plus.\nExperience with photonics, semiconductor fabrication, device characterization, or manufacturing environments is a plus\nExperience with laboratory equipment, measurement instruments, test automation, or data acquisition is a plus\nStrong communication skills and ability to collaborate across multiple engineering disciplines\nSelf-motivated, detail-oriented, and comfortable solving open-ended problems in a fast-paced R&D environment\nDuration & Location\n12-16 weeks, full-time internship, with internship periods available between October 2026 and May 2027\nThis role is in-person at HyperLight's office in Cambridge, MA. Authorization to work in the US is required\nBenefits\nBENEFITS:\nCompetitive market-based compensation ($28 - $34 per hour)\nCommuter benefits\nHyperLight is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status. HyperLight is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities during our hiring process. If you need assistance or an accommodation, please contact us at .","description_format":"text","description_chars":5294,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Optical Communications","Optics & Photonic Components"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-29T04:03:43Z"}],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":1,"expected_fill_days":140,"reasons":["conf:1","win:early","comp:junior"],"computed_at":"2026-09-29T05:45:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":68000,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/hyperlight-rd-operations-automation-engineer-intern","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/hyperlight-rd-operations-automation-engineer-intern.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-09-30T02:14:14Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","usage":{"tier":"crawler","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":1564,"day_limit":5000,"remaining_today":3436,"minute_limit":60,"resets_at":"2026-10-01T00:00:00Z"}}}