Researcher

Reliability Researcher, Photonics Sensing Systems

Location: Alkmaar, Netherlands, office, labs, and regular field work

The role

Join a research team focused on making photonic integrated circuit (PIC) based systems and optical fiber sensing systems reliable, robust, and ready for harsh environments, with a strong focus on aerospace applications. You will investigate failure mechanisms, build and validate reliability models, and turn test results into practical improvements that make products tougher in the real world.

Photonfirst - Reliability Resea…

What you will do

Your work will be a mix of research, lab testing, and real-world campaigns, roughly split like this:

• Study and document relevant materials and components, staying on top of what matters and why.
• Plan and run reliability experiments and failure analysis, define test goals, set up tests, execute them, analyse data, and report findings clearly.
• Build calculation and simulation models, for example accelerated lifetime and environmental testing models, then verify them with experiments.
• Support qualification and verification work across teams, including process analysis, product risk analyses, and root-cause investigations.
• Work in the field and with partners, including supplier discussions and running test campaigns outside the lab.

What we are looking for

• A Master's degree in Physics, Mechanical Engineering, or Materials Science.
• 3 to 5 years of relevant industry experience in reliability, testing, failure analysis, qualification, or related work.
• Strong communication skills, you can explain complex ideas simply and work well across disciplines.
• You enjoy the pace of a small, fast-moving company, and you are comfortable switching between deep thinking and hands-on execution.
• You are based in the Netherlands and can work from Alkmaar.

What you get

• An autonomous role with room to grow your technical depth in a cutting-edge photonics environment.
• A practical, hands-on setup, lab work, field work, and direct contact with real customer use cases.
• Daily variety, new applications, new problems, and real impact on product reliability.
• A strong technical team building unique sensing technology.

How to apply

Send your CV and a short note on your most relevant reliability, testing, or failure analysis work via the platform where you found this advert.

Darwin Recruitment is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.