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Salary: USD 200,000 - 275,000 / annual
Periodic Labs is an AI and physical sciences company building state-of-the-art models to accelerate breakthroughs across materials, energy, and beyond. The company is backed by world-class investors and operates at the pace the frontier requires.
As an Equipment Engineer, you will own the commissioning, qualification, and maintenance of the vacuum and deposition hardware that powers the company's AI-accelerated thin-film and semiconductor processing lab. You will commission, qualify, and maintain R&D thin-film deposition systems, including PVD, CVD, and ALD, working closely with vendors to assemble, install, and bring tools online. You will troubleshoot complex vacuum and process-hardware issues at the equipment level.
Key responsibilities include:
- Lab Development: Contribute to the buildout and scale-up of an AI-accelerated thin-film and semiconductor processing laboratory, including commissioning deposition systems and integrating in-situ characterization and metrology tools to enable materials discovery.
- Equipment Qualification & Troubleshooting: Establish equipment specifications, acceptance criteria, and qualification protocols for new tools; diagnose and resolve complex hardware, vacuum, and process-equipment failures.
- Vendor & Procurement Engagement: Contribute to vendor communication and tool selection, providing technical requirements to vendors and supporting bid evaluation and technical negotiation in coordination with the procurement team.
- Documentation & Data: Create internal and external documentation, equipment SOPs, strategies, and technical reports; establish standardized equipment data pipelines to feed into AI training infrastructure.
- Equipment Reliability & Uptime: Own day-to-day equipment health and prioritize tool availability by proactively monitoring performance, troubleshooting hardware and process issues, performing root-cause analysis, and working directly with vendors to resolve failures quickly.
You will work hands-on in bringing up new tools and reactors, integrating in-situ characterization and metrology capabilities, writing equipment specifications and SOPs, and collaborating daily with internal teams spanning AI/ML, simulation, process engineering, and physics/chemistry to stand up scalable lab infrastructure.
REQUIREMENTS:
- BS, MS, or PhD in Engineering (Mechanical, Chemical, Electrical), Materials Science, or a related field
- Extensive hands-on experience with vacuum systems in a semiconductor, nanofabrication, or advanced materials setting
- Deep expertise in high-vacuum system operation and the underlying mechanisms of deposition hardware, including plasma sources, gas delivery, and thermal management
- Experience integrating characterization and metrology capabilities directly into process equipment (e.g., in-situ metrology, environmental chambers)
- Startup-ready mindset: able to operate effectively in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment while implementing industry-standard best practices
