You will take ownership of challenging engineering problems from first idea to tested hardware. In a small, fast-moving team, you will design experiments, build prototypes, measure performance, find failure modes, and iterate until a system is robust enough for production and customer use.
Your work will include:

• designing and building compact optical circuits that incorporate gain media, piezo and motorized actuators, optical cavities, spectroscopy cells, photonic integrated circuits, and related components;
• developing robotic methods to place, align, bond, and integrate optical components reproducibly;
• building and benchmarking complete systems, such as laser sources and laser-frequency locks;
• designing or integrating the electronics, instrumentation, and control software needed to operate and test those systems;
• translating prototypes into scalable production processes, fixtures, test procedures, and clear technical documentation; and
• working directly with researchers and early customers to understand requirements and deliver practical, reliable hardware.

The role offers substantial freedom and responsibility. You will be encouraged to propose solutions, make design decisions, and develop new technical capabilities—not simply execute a predefined research plan.

We are looking for a curious, pragmatic engineer who enjoys difficult technical puzzles and wants to help grow a young deep-tech company. You do not need to match every item below. We would particularly like to hear from you if you bring:

• a Master's degree, PhD, or equivalent professional experience in applied physics, optical engineering, electrical engineering, mechatronics, or a related field;
• hands-on experience building and troubleshooting optical systems, ideally involving lasers, precision alignment, interferometry, spectroscopy, cavities, or photonic systems;
• enough experience with electronics, instrumentation, and control software to work effectively across discipline boundaries;
• an experimental mindset: you turn open-ended problems into testable ideas, learn quickly from data, and keep going when the first design does not work;
• the initiative to own projects, communicate clearly in English, and collaborate closely in a small team. Experience with automation, optomechanical design, PCB design, embedded systems, Python or LabVIEW, precision assembly, or design for manufacture is welcome, but not required.

You will work on advanced optical hardware with a short path from experiment to product, combining the technical environment of the University of Amsterdam with the pace, responsibility, and customer focus of an early-stage startup. You will have direct access to optical laboratories, robotic manufacturing tools, academic collaborators, and the founders of OpticsFoundry. The role is designed to offer growing responsibility and, subject to performance, mutual fit, and company development, a gradual transition toward employment at OpticsFoundry over the next two years.
We offer a temporary employment contract for 38 hours per week for a period of 12 months. The preferred starting date is as soon as possible. The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and dependent on relevant experience, ranges between €3,706 and €5,760 (scale 10). This does not include 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% year-end allowance. The applicable UFO job profile Education and Research Technician-O profile 2 is applicable . For this position we can not sponsor a visa. Due to Dutch legislation, the UvA is for non-scientific positions obliged to recruit within the EU. If you are not a EU-citizen (including Norway and Switzerland) please do not apply for this vacancy.

The Collective Labour Agreement of Universities of the Netherlands is applicable.