Optical Fabrication Technician III

Summary:

This role is for a senior technician who can run difficult jobs including tight-tolerance work on large apertures exotic materials and multi-element assemblies mentor others improve process repeatability and partner with engineering and quality to drive yield throughput and consistency.

Key Responsibilities:

• Independently set up and run complex or high-value optical fabrication jobs with minimal supervision including tight-tolerance work on challenging substrates and geometries.
• Operate and optimize conventional fabrication processes including grinding lapping polishing beveling/chamfering and edge finishing across a range of optical materials (glass crystalline IR-transmitting and specialty substrates).
• Work from optical drawings travelers process routings and specifications to deliver parts to tight requirements.
• Perform advanced in-process and final inspection using shop metrology and optical inspection tools including:
  • Interferometers (Zygo or equivalent) for flatness transmitted wavefront and surface figure
  • Autocollimators for wedge and angle verification
  • Micrometers calipers and electronic/dial indicators
  • Microscopes and visual inspection tools for cosmetic evaluation per applicable specs
  • Surface profilers or other metrology equipment as required
• Drive process control for critical features including thickness/parallelism wedge/angle flatness edge condition and cosmetics.
• Troubleshoot process and equipment issues; identify root causes and implement corrective actions in coordination with engineering and quality.
• Mentor and train Technician I and II personnel on setup standards workmanship expectations safe handling documentation/traceability and quality acceptance criteria.
• Support development and improvement of work instructions process documentation and standard methods.
• Lead by example in safety cleanliness organization and quality discipline.
• Support production planning and priority execution by coordinating with supervisors and cross-functional teams.
• Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives to improve yield cycle time and repeatability.

Qualifications:

Required:

• High school diploma or equivalent (technical training preferred).
• 8 years of hands-on optical fabrication/polishing experience (or equivalent depth in precision optics manufacturing).
• Strong proficiency in conventional polishing/grinding/lapping processes.
• Strong ability to read and interpret optical drawings specifications and travelers.
• Proficient shop math skills including algebra geometry and trigonometry as applied to optical fabrication (wedge calculations angle work tolerance analysis).
• Demonstrated experience with precision inspection and process control.
• Strong troubleshooting problem-solving and mentoring ability.
• Excellent documentation habits and communication skills.