Laser NPI & Industrialization Engineer
Luminar is a global automotive technology company ushering in a new era of vehicle safety and autonomy. For the past decade, Luminar has built an advanced hardware and software/AI platform to enable its more than 50 industry partners, including the majority of global automotive OEMs. From consumer vehicle programs with Volvo Cars and Mercedes-Benz to technology partnerships including NVIDIA and Mobileye, Luminar is poised to be the first automotive technology company to enable next-generation safety and autonomous capabilities for global production vehicles. For more information please visit www.luminartech.com.
The product engineering team at Luminar is seeking an experienced Laser NPI & Industrialization Engineer to contribute to our LiDAR system design, development, and production. The successful candidate will join a cross-functional team of scientists and engineers working to combine light sources, beam delivery systems, detectors, firmware, and software to create market-leading LiDAR systems. The position requires a demonstrated understanding of laser design and manufacturing and experience in assembly, automation, and test of laser components and modules. This position is located in China and requires fluency in both English and Chinese Mandarin. The ideal candidate will be willing to travel frequently (>50%) to contract manufacturers (CMs) and laser components suppliers across Asia to serve as Luminar’s in-residence laser engineer at these sites during critical phases of new product introduction and production ramp.
The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience in one or more of the following:
- Serve as the primary technical interface with one or more component suppliers as design transitions from development into production
- Work with a multidisciplinary team to support driving new and existing laser designs from the initial R&D prototyping phase into high-volume manufacturing at our Asia-based CMs
- Direct specification development and develop/use of mechanical and electrical drawings for optical subcomponents and photonic devices
- Technical problem-solving and troubleshooting including failure identification and root cause analysis of laser modules and their photonic, electronic, and mechanical subcomponents
- Design, implementation, and analysis of laser assembly and test processes, fixtures, and equipment
- Evaluate subsystem-level requirements for LIDAR products and work directly with the laser design team to develop solutions to performance, reliability, and manufacturability issues that arise in new product introduction
- Monitor initial yield as volume production line is brought up and assist our CMs with process and tooling improvements needed to meet Luminar’s laser performance, quality, and manufacturing capacity requirements
- Establish and direct component and system verification and validation tests including gage repeatability and reproducibility
- Define and supervise the execution of design verification and process verification testing; analyze testing results and formulate next-step recommendations
- Ensure accurate and fast communication of problems as they arise at CMs, and coordinate with the US laser development team to rapidly identify root cause and implement corrective actions at the CMs
- Engineering documentation including test plans, mechanical and optical drawings, and performance requirements/specifications
- Review of PPAP documentation including control plans, process flow diagrams, specifications and FMEA’s
- Review CM assembly processes, work instructions, operating procedures, etc.
- B.S. or higher in Physics, Engineering, Optics, Photonics, or related field
- Minimum of 5 years of experience in a fiber, solid state, or diode laser engineering
- Experience in manufacturing of lasers or laser components
- Native fluency in Mandarin Chinese
- Willingness to travel >50% (up to 75% during critical times)
- Demonstrated experience in the specification, characterization, and qualification of diode-pumped laser subcomponents for high-volume (>10K/yr) manufacturing
- Experience in a related role serving the automotive LiDAR market
- Experience in reliability engineering including qualification testing definition, accelerated life test design, and statistical analysis
- Experience working with external vendors to set up low-rate initial production of laser modules
- Experience managing international suppliers developing new photonics products and technologies
- Willingness to work flexible hours to accommodate video teleconference meetings with individuals in Asia, the Americas, and Europe
Luminar is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, disability, gender identity, results of genetic testing, service in the military, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws. We will make a reasonable accommodation for any qualified applicant with a disability, provided that the individual is otherwise qualified to safely perform the essential functions of the job with or without accommodation and that the accommodation would not impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business. Please let us know if you believe you require reasonable accommodation, or if you would like assistance to complete an application or to participate in an interview at the company.