Process Engineering Technician - Optical Fabrication

 

Role Purpose

Performs technical duties aCorning's Optical Fabrication team in Fairport, NY is seeking a Process Engineering Technician to support precision optics manufacturing across daily production and long-term process development. In this first-shift, Monday–Friday role, you'll work at the intersection of equipment health, process improvement, and new product introduction — collaborating daily with engineering, operations, quality, and supply chain to keep production running at peak performance. If you bring 7+ years of manufacturing technician experience and deep knowledge of precision optics, this is a high-impact, cross-functional opportunity with less than 5% travel and occasional evening or weekend support as needed. 

Key Responsibilities

• Provide daily production support to resolve process upsets and identify improvements that reduce cost, increase capacity, and expand department capability
• Manage production equipment health including preventive maintenance (PM) schedules, component inventory, and coordination of equipment upgrades and repairs
• Partner with process engineering on new product introductions, manufacturing capability gap assessments, and process development activities
• Author technical documentation and deliver training to operations associates on standardized processes and procedures
• Collaborate cross-functionally with engineering, operations, quality, and supply chain to resolve production issues and support customer complaint responses
• Perform manufacturing tasks in compliance with workplace standards, including housekeeping and autonomous maintenance of work area and equipment

Experiences/Education - Required

• 7+ years of experience in an engineering technician role within a manufacturing environment or an Associate's degree in an engineering or science field 
• Deep working knowledge of precision optics manufacturing methods, including generation, polishing, and testing
• Hands-on experience with optical fabrication equipment and metrology, with proficiency in production systems including SAP, Manufacturing Execution System (MES), SharePoint, and Power BI
• Experience managing PM schedules and component inventory to support production equipment uptime
• Ability to author technical documentation and deliver training to operations associates

Experiences/Education - Desired

• Associate's degree in an engineering or science field; Mechanical, Chemical, Materials, or Optical Engineering preferred
• Hands-on experience with CNC-based generation and polishing, MRF, finishing process and equipment, and conventional or single-spindle polishing
• Proficiency with 3D modeling software such as SolidWorks or Creo for tooling and fixture design
• Thorough understanding of spherical and aspherical optics manufacturing methods, including facilities inputs, equipment control, and identifying impactful process improvements
• Knowledge of precision optics specifications and customer conformance requirements, including cleanliness, part conformance, and lens troubleshooting
• Performance Excellence training such as Green Belt, Lean, PQA

Travel Requirements:

• We anticipate less than 5% travel for this role. Typical travel includes special training/networking opportunities and potential customer and vendor visits.

Hours of work:

• Typical first shift production hours, M-F, 8am-5pm. Evening and weekend support as needed.