---
title: 'Member of Technical Staff, Reliability Engineer at Lumotive'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-reliability-engineer-lumotive-redmond-zyxs2ybygpkv'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-13'
---

# Member of Technical Staff, Reliability Engineer at Lumotive

- **Company:** Lumotive
- **Location:** Redmond, WA
- **Compensation:** $90k–$105k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-13
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-13
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/lumotive/1e497d72-4507-4cef-952a-40627df652e0

## Job description

Lumotive is pioneering the era of programmable optics—where light is controlled as intelligently and flexibly as software.

At the heart of this transformation is a once-in-a-generation innovation: a flat CMOS-based “general purpose optic.” Lumotive’s Light Control Metasurface (LCM™) beam forming chips can be programmed to function as a beam steering mirror, a lens, mirror, a beam splitter—or any optical function—replacing bulky and mechanical optical components with a fully digital, reconfigurable semiconductor . This breakthrough lays the foundation for a massive shift in multiple technologies—from 3D sensing and imaging to optical networking, free space optical communication, and beyond. Like the shift from analog to digital in electronics, programmable optics will reshape industries from robotics, self-driving cars, AI, defense, and healthcare.

Lumotive’s first commercial application is in LiDAR, where its software-defined beam steering chips are already enabling compact, high-performance, solid-state sensors. These sensors are being deployed today in smart infrastructure, robotics, and mobility systems through leading module makers and solution integrators.

With more than 200 patents and growing commercial traction, Lumotive is delivering the world’s first digital platform for light—and redefining what’s possible in the optical age.

Responsibilities:

- Own core LCM reliability at the chip level: define the stress test strategy, execute it, and be the authority on LCM failure modes, mechanisms, and lifetime
- Design and run accelerated life tests (HTOL, high temperature storage, temperature cycling, humidity / biased-humidity, optical exposure) and define new stress conditions that surface latent failure modes early
- Perform hands-on failure analysis: optical and electrical inspection, defect tracking and precursor identification, root-cause hypothesis generation and testing
- Build statistical lifetime models (time-to-failure distributions, acceleration factors, activation energies) to project reliability from accelerated conditions to customer use conditions
- Correlate reliability outcomes with wafer fab process splits, materials experiments, and assembly variables; drive design-of-experiments with process and fab partners to improve intrinsic reliability
- Define pass / fail criteria, burn-in, and screening strategies to keep early failures out of customer deliveries
- Develop and maintain the analysis tooling (Python, test databases, dashboards) that turns raw stress-test data into conclusions
- Communicate findings rapidly and clearly: document every study in our knowledge base with conclusions and next steps, present at reliability reviews, and flag new failure modes to the broader team the day you find them

Qualifications:

- Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, physics, materials science, or related fields is required. A Master’s or PhD is preferred.
- Minimum of 5 years of experience in semiconductor or optoelectronic device reliability, failure analysis, or closely related roles is required.
- Hands-on experience designing and executing accelerated stress tests (e.g., HTOL, temperature cycling, humidity / HAST, high temperature storage).
- Hands-on failure analysis experience: optical microscopy, electrical characterization, and systematic root-cause investigation.
- Statistical reliability analysis skills: time-to-failure distributions (e.g., Weibull), acceleration modeling (e.g., Arrhenius), and lifetime projection.
- Demonstrated experience characterizing failure modes that fall outside standard textbook models — working them from first principles rather than relying solely on established qual flows.
- Proficiency in Python, JMP, or similar for data analysis of large reliability datasets.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills; disciplined about documenting work with clear conclusions and next steps.
- Intellectual curiosity and ownership: you think about what can fail constantly, and you dig until you understand why.
- Background in liquid crystal devices (LCoS, displays), MEMS, image sensors, photonics, or other emerging semiconductor device technologies.
- Familiarity with reliability and quality standards (JEDEC, AEC-Q100) and how to adapt them to devices they were not written for.
- Experience running split-lot design-of-experiments with wafer fabs or materials vendors to improve reliability.
- Experience defining burn-in and production screening for early-failure elimination.
- Experience with test data infrastructure: databases, Tableau or similar dashboards, Git and software development best practices.

Benefits include but not limited to:

Health, dental and vision

## FSA, HSA

PTO plus 14 paid company holidays 401K with 3% contribution Stock Options Life insurance and disability

## About Lumotive

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Lumotive develops programmable optical semiconductors using its patented Light Control Metasurface (LCM) technology to enable solid-state beam steering for lidar, optical switching, and communications.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Privately Held; $131M total funding, most recent Series B in 2025)
- **Headquarters**: Redmond, Washington, United States
- **Founded**: 2017
- **Founders**: Gleb Akselrod (CTO and Founder)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Semiconductor Manufacturing / Programmable Optics
- **Target customers**: B2B – lidar module makers, robotics integrators, automotive ADAS suppliers, defense contractors, AI hyperscaler data centers, and optical network operators.
- **Mission or purpose**: “Delivering the world’s first digital platform for light — and redefining what’s possible in the optical age.”

## Products & Services
- **Light Control Metasurface (LCM) Beamforming Chip**: A software‑defined, flat CMOS‑based “general purpose optic” that can be programmed to steer, split, or focus light without moving parts. Used in solid‑state lidar for 3D sensing, optical circuit switching for AI data centers, and free‑space optical communications.
- **LCM‑Enabled 3D Sensing Solutions**: High‑performance, compact solid‑state lidar sensors deployed in smart infrastructure, robotics, and mobility systems through module makers and integrators.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of $131M; annual revenue estimated at $2.5M (based on headcount‑to‑revenue proxy)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Series B (Feb 2025) included 11 investors; earlier rounds involved corporate and venture investors (names not publicly listed). Partners include leading module makers and solution integrators in lidar and optical networking.
- **Growth Signals**: 66 employees (+28.6% YoY); 12 active job postings (+20% monthly, +300% quarterly); recent $45M Series B (Feb 2025) and $14M follow‑on (July 2025); expanding into AI data center optical switching; offices in Redmond (HQ), Vancouver, Palo Alto, Bellevue, and employees across 5 countries.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Proprietary LCM technology** with 160+ patents, enabling digital, reconfigurable optics without mechanical parts.
- **Once‑in‑a‑generation innovation**: a flat CMOS‑based “general purpose optic” that replaces bulky mechanical optical components, analogous to the shift from analog to digital in electronics.
- **Broad application range** (lidar, optical switching, communications) reduces single‑market risk and opens multiple high‑growth verticals.

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling production and operations to meet demand from AI data centers (optical circuit switching), autonomous robotics, and automotive ADAS.
- Hiring a Vice President of Operations to drive excellence across fabrication, assembly, test, quality, supply chain, and logistics.
- Continuing to advance LCM chip performance and integration for next‑gen 3D sensing and high‑speed communications.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: “Intense intellectual environment” with high ownership, visibility, and responsibility; described as “no place to hide” but rewarding for top performers. Values: Always Innovate, Seek Excellence, Focus on Customers.
- **Work model**: Hybrid/office presence expected (offices in Redmond, Vancouver, Palo Alto, Bellevue); remote flexibility not explicitly stated.
- **Team**: 57% technical staff; collaboration with “ridiculously smart people” from Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, and other top tech firms.
- **Growth**: Rapidly scaling company with recent funding and expanding headcount; opportunity to shape a breakthrough technology category.

## Sources
1. [lumotive.com](https://lumotive.com/)
2. [lumotive.com/about](https://lumotive.com/about/)
3. [lumotive.com/culture](https://lumotive.com/culture/)
4. [linkedin.com/company/lumotive](https://www.linkedin.com/company/lumotive)
5. [jobs.lever.co/lumotive](https://jobs.lever.co/lumotive)

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