Principal Reliability & Customer Quality Engineer
Coherent · Fremont, CA
- Level
- Senior
- Team
- Quality
- Degree
- Required
- Experience asked
- 5+ years
- Industry
- Industrial
- Posted
- 30+ days ago
The role in 30 seconds
A senior quality role at Coherent (industrial) in Fremont, CA. A ccountability – Own the Process and the Outcome.
- They ask for
- 5+ years · degree required
- Tools it names
- Root cause, CAPA, EHS / safety
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
From the plant jobs report · week of November 2, 2026
Quality Engineer roles in California: typical posted base $100k–$153k.
Median of the low and high ends of 119 live postings that list pay, out of 235 quality engineer openings in California, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.
California plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →
How this role compares
Against 234 other live quality postings in California.
- Base pay
- Not listed in this posting
- Experience asked
- Typical (5+ years)
Typical $100k–$149k, from 115 postings that list pay.
Similar roles usually ask 5+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- ✓ Root cause 76%
- FMEA 48%
- Validation (IQ/OQ/PQ) 43%
- Supplier quality 43%
- AS9100 40%
- ISO 9001 35%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
Stands out: this posting asks for EHS / safety, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.
At a glance
Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.
How to get in at this plant
Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.
- 1
Pick 2–3 people on the Quality team at Coherent
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
- 2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
- 3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Which standards drive the work here: ISO 13485, IATF 16949, AS9100?
- How much of the job is customer complaints versus prevention?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
- 4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
- 5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.
This plant: Coherent in Fremont
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Full description from CoherentAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
Education & Experience
- ✓Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, Operations, Project Management, or related field.
- ✓Minimum 5 years experience in optical transceivers, networking hardware, semiconductors, electronics manufacturing, or data center industries.
Requirements
Ability to work in laboratory and manufacturing environments, including extended periods of sitting, standing, and use of standard lab equipment.
Safety
Requirements
All employees are required to follow site Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) procedures and Coherent corporate EHS standards.
Quality and Environmental
Responsibilities
Depending on location, this position may be responsible for the execution and maintenance of the ISO 9000, 9001, 14001 and/or other applicable standards that may apply to the relevant roles and
responsibilities
within the Quality Management System and Environmental Management System.
Culture Commitment
Ensure adherence to company’s values (ICARE) in all aspects of your position at Coherent Corp.:
I ntegrity – Create an Environment of Trust
C ollaboration – Innovate Through the Sharing of Ideas
A ccountability – Own the Process and the Outcome
R espect – Recognize the Value in Everyone
E nthusiasm – Find a Sense of Purpose in Work
Coherent is a global leader in lasers, engineered materials and networking components. We are a vertically integrated manufacturing company that develops innovative products for diversified applications in the industrial, optical communications, military, life sciences, semiconductor equipment, and consumer markets. Coherent provides a comprehensive career development platform within an environment that challenges employees to perform at their best, while rewarding excellence and hard-work through a competitive compensation program. It's an exciting opportunity to work for a company that offers stability, longevity and growth. Come Join Us!
Note to recruiters and employment agencies: We will not pay for unsolicited resumes from recruiters and empl
Show full description ↓Show less ↑
Reliability & Customer Quality Case Resolutions
- •Support VP of Transceiver Quality and NPI/Customer Quality/Failure Analysis managers to drive resolution of qualification and reliability risk areas. Scope will include, but may not be limited to the following:
- •Transceiver product and Photonics IC reliability qualification status and tracking to milestones across sites in Asia, US, Europe
- •Use of advanced analytical tools and software to investigate complex materials, mechanical, thermal, electrical, process interactions
- •Critical Customer Cases and Escalations
- •Visualize 3D structures and complex possible interactions and propose failure analysis strategies to understand failure modes and sequence of events. Coordinate w/ analytical labs to execute physical FA to maximize understanding at minimal cost.
- •Motivation and ability to learn new product architectures and integrated structures and help identify potential reliability risks
- •Synthesize data and information to summarize key points and facilitate rapid and informed decision-making
Program Management
- •Support New Product Introduction (NPI) reliability qualifications, customer field reliability issues to resolve the issues with a high sense of urgency.
- •Lead and coordinate cross-functional projects and actions involving Reliability Engineering, Customer Quality, Operations, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Product Engineering as well as commercial stakeholders.
- •Drive accountability for commitments and ensure timely execution of deliverables.
- •Escalate risks, resource constraints, and schedule issues to leadership.
Reliability Infrastructure
- •Document Lessons Learned: Root Cause, Corrective & Preventive Actions
- •Support annual planning, budgeting, headcount tracking, and capital expenditure requests/approvals/status.
- •Assist in implementation of quality excellence initiatives.
Skills
- •Experience supporting R&D, quality, reliability, operations organizations as well as clear customer focus
- •Excellent organizational and multitasking abilities, attention to detail, strong follow-through
- •Willingness to collaborate with colleagues overseas and influence without authority
- •Professional written and verbal communication skills.
- •Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite as well as data analysis tools like JMP
- •Limited travel required for hands-on collaboration and issue closure
- •Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- •Familiarity with:
- •Reliability qualification testing
- •Customer quality processes
- •Root cause analysis
- •CAPA systems
- •New Product Introduction (NPI)
- •Success in this role will be demonstrated through:
- •Timely completion of key reliability and customer quality initiatives.
- •Effective management of organizational action items and commitments.
- •Improved visibility into quality and reliability metrics.
- •Positive feedback from cross-functional teams and senior leadership.
- •Strong support of customer quality reviews, escalations, and reliability qualification programs.
- •This role is ideal for a highly organized professional who enjoys working closely with technical leaders, coordinating complex activities, and helping drive execution in a fast-paced transceiver and data center technology environment.
Working Conditions
Office environment with regular interaction in laboratory and manufacturing settings.
- •Occasional domestic and international travel to suppliers and manufacturing sites may be required.
Physical