Co-Founder, Head of Foundry Enablement and Photonic Integration

About the Role

We are seeking a Co-founder, Head of Foundry Enablement and Photonic Integration who wants to turn their deep photonics, nanofabrication, metrology, and manufacturing expertise into scalable products with real-world impact.

At NeuralOptix you will own the design, implementation, and execution of the foundry enablement workflows serving as the interface among design metrology and foundry teams. You will build and manage the technical relationships that turn NeuralOptix platforms into partner‑ready solutions. You will work directly with leading brands, foundries, and ecosystem partners to customize technologies, define manufacturing specifications, improve process capability, and accelerate product adoption. As a deep technologist, you will also drive core innovation by extending our platforms and applying nanofabrication expertise to create novel devices and optical structures.

This role requires a blend of exceptional strategic vision, deep technology and manufacturing acumen, and relationship management skills. The role requires a fundamental understanding of materials, process flows, and metrology techniques for display waveguides, next generation AR/VR/MR systems, and/or advanced photonic systems. This role will leverage your expertise in design-technology-co-optimization methods to drive component technology performance, and your communication skills to maintain an efficient, constructive interface between Foundry, Metrology, and Design teams. The right person will help shape NeuralOptix’s technical direction, partner strategy, product roadmap, and operating culture as the company moves from early platform development toward scalable deployment.

Core Job Functions:

Foundry Enablement & Manufacturing Strategy

• Lead technical engagement with foundry, manufacturing, and ecosystem partners.
• Assess partner manufacturing capabilities through process flow and tooling reviews and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Design and implement end-to-end design-for-manufacturing (DFM) workflows.
• Develop scalable manufacturing specification frameworks and qualification methodologies.
• Drive design-technology co-optimization (DTCO) efforts to improve performance, yield, and manufacturability.
• Establish processes that enable successful technology transfer from development through production.

Photonics & Technology Leadership

• Develop innovative devices, architectures, and optical structures.
• Apply expertise in nanofabrication, materials, and metrology to solve complex manufacturing challenges.
• Evaluate device performance, analyze experimental results, and recommend technical improvements.
• Work closely with design, materials, process, and manufacturing teams to achieve product performance and scalability objectives.
• Collaborate with partners to optimize tool configurations and process performance.

Platform Development

• Contribute technical expertise to software platforms
• Define requirements for manufacturing data infrastructure and analysis workflows.
• Support development of analytics and visualization capabilities that improve engineering decision‑making.
• Incorporate learning into platform capabilities and product strategy.

Cross‑Functional Leadership

• Serve as the primary technical interface across design, metrology, and foundry organizations.
• Lead recurring cross‑functional technical reviews and partner working sessions.
• Align stakeholders around technical priorities, deliverables, and timelines.
• Build trusted relationships with customers, suppliers, and strategic partners.
• Maintain compliance with all confidentiality, security, and partner requirements.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in science or engineering field (with 10+ years of experience) in an advanced technology development and manufacturing environment.
• Fundamental understanding of photonic devices and the associated materials processes and metrology required
• Strong proficiency in materials, nanofabrication flows
• Strong proficiency in design-for-manufacturing.
• At least 4 years of experience working in development, manufacturing, or DFM technical leadership position.
• Ability to clearly document and communicate strategic and tactical plans.
• Ability to work with engineering and scientists to develop customized analytic solutions.
• Excellent organizational, management, and communication skills
• Ability to understand customer needs and craft targeted solutions.

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD or MS in Engineering field with 4 or more years of experience in AR waveguide, Photonic Integration, or Semiconductor DFM leadership role
• Fundamental understanding of diffraction as applied to device performance
• Ability to code in Python
• Fundamental understanding of image quality, MTF, and diffraction efficiency characterization
• Fundamental understanding and awareness of advanced metrology concept
• Knowledgeable in data‑infrastructure for manufacturing systems
• Knowledgeable in statistical analysis, design of experiments, and advance visualization techniques.
• Ideally, knowledgeable in typical display technology metrics such as efficiency (nits, lumens), uniformity, contrast, haze, and artifacts.
• Knowledgeable in state-of-the‑art metrology landscape for display and process technology

Competencies

• Strategic thinker (ability to plan ahead for challenges)
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities effectively.
• Curious, hands‑on problem solver who balances technical rigor with pragmatic execution.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with a passion for building technology and organizations from the ground up.

Work Environment

• Seattle-based Founders, Remote work considered;
• Normal business hours with weekly morning or evening calls with global partners.
• Ability to travel as needed to support partners. (Expect 25% on average)
• Ability to work in a fast‑paced technical environment where everyone is expected to stretch and learn quickly.

Check-out neuraloptix.com/careers for more positions.