OPT Equipment Engineer Jobs
Equipment Engineer jobs are accessible on OPT, and many semiconductor, aerospace, and manufacturing employers are experienced sponsors. STEM OPT extensions apply here, giving you up to three years of work authorization. Strong hands-on experience with process tools or fab equipment significantly improves your sponsorship prospects.
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Get Access To All JobsJob Title: Senior Equipment Process Engineer - Downstream
- Location: Framingham, MA
About the Job
The Senior Equipment Process Engineer - Downstream is the technical owner for an assigned portfolio of manufacturing, utility, facility, or laboratory equipment. This role improves equipment safety, compliance, availability, and lifecycle performance by combining hands-on troubleshooting with effective maintenance strategies, equipment changes, technical documentation, and cross-functional leadership.
Join a global network that powers how Sanofi delivers — seamlessly, purposefully, and at scale. In Manufacturing & Supply, you’ll help reimagine how life-changing treatments reach people everywhere, faster.
About Sanofi:
We’re an R&D-driven, AI-powered biopharma company committed to improving people’s lives and delivering compelling growth. Our deep understanding of the immune system and innovative pipeline enables us to invent medicines and vaccines that treat and protect millions of people around the world. Together, we chase the miracles of science to improve lives.
Main Responsibilities
- Own equipment performance and lifecycle: Maintain asset health, design basis, operating limits, criticality, failure history, documentation, maintenance strategy, obsolescence risks, and improvement priorities.
- Lead troubleshooting and field support: Diagnose complex mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, and control-interface issues. Partner directly with mechanics and technicians through repair, testing, and return to service.
- Build executable maintenance plans: Develop and technically approve complete work packages, including scope, sequence, labor, parts, tools, permits, LOTO, acceptance criteria, post-maintenance testing, and restoration requirements.
- Optimize preventive maintenance and spares: Create risk-based PM strategies, equipment BOMs, critical-spares lists, stocking recommendations, and obsolescence mitigation plans using equipment criticality, failure modes, OEM guidance, and operating history.
- Lead equipment changes and projects: Define technical requirements and lead design reviews, vendor selection, FAT/SAT, commissioning, qualification, turnover, training, maintenance readiness, and documentation for modifications and new equipment.
- Own technical quality actions: Lead equipment-specific change controls and CAPAs, provide timely deviation assessments, and ensure approved hardware changes are implemented, tested, documented, and effectively closed.
- Drive reliability improvement: Use downtime, repeat work, deviations, maintenance findings, and condition data to eliminate bad actors and improve reliability, maintainability, safety, and compliance.
- Coordinate vendors and stakeholders: Develop technical scopes, assess vendor capability and performance, and collaborate with Operations, Quality, Validation, Metrology, HSE, Automation, Engineering, Procurement, Stores, and Finance.
Key Deliverables
- Technically complete, schedule-ready work packages and maintenance master data.
- Risk-based PM programs, accurate equipment BOMs, and critical-spares strategies.
- Timely, technically sound closure of deviations, CAPAs, change controls, and engineering actions.
- Reduced repeat failures, emergency work, avoidable downtime, and obsolete-component exposure.
- Complete maintenance readiness and technical turnover for equipment changes and new assets.
- Accurate, traceable, and inspection-ready drawings, specifications, manuals, and records.
About You
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical, electrical, chemical, biomedical, or related engineering discipline.
- At least 3 years of engineering experience supporting manufacturing, facilities, utilities, laboratories, or complex process equipment in a regulated or high-reliability environment.
- Demonstrated equipment troubleshooting capability using drawings, manuals, data, failure history, and structured root-cause methods.
- Experience developing job plans, PM tasks, technical specifications, spare-parts recommendations, or maintenance strategies.
- Experience supporting equipment modifications, commissioning, qualification, change control, deviations, or CAPAs.
- Ability to work effectively in the field and communicate technical risk and recommendations to technical teams and leaders.
Preferred
- Experience in biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical, medical-device, SUT, or other cGMP manufacturing.
- Working knowledge of CMMS/EAM systems, equipment BOMs, work-order controls, and maintenance master data.
- Knowledge of reliability methods, including criticality, FMEA, root cause analysis, condition monitoring, bad-actor elimination, and lifecycle planning.
- Experience with P&IDs, electrical and mechanical drawings, instrumentation, controls interfaces, and OEM technical packages.
- PE, CMRP/CRL, Lean/Six Sigma, project-management training, or related professional certification.
Why choose us?
- Bring the miracles of science to life alongside a supportive, future-focused team.
- Discover endless opportunities to grow your talent and drive your career, whether it’s through a promotion or lateral move, at home or internationally.
- Enjoy a thoughtful, well-crafted rewards package that recognizes your contribution and amplifies your impact.
- Take good care of yourself and your family, with a wide range of health and wellbeing benefits including high-quality healthcare, prevention and wellness programs and at least 14 weeks’ gender-neutral parental leave.
- Shape the future of medicine and vaccine delivery with cutting-edge technology, ensuring seamless launches and a resilient global supply.
- Power industry-leading performance by leveraging digital, data, and AI-driven innovation – at speed and scale.
- Transform lives worldwide by delivering life-changing treatments anywhere, anytime.
Sanofi Inc. and its U.S. affiliates are Equal Opportunity employers committed to a culturally inclusive workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race; color; creed; religion; national origin; age; ancestry; nationality; marital, domestic partnership or civil union status; sex, gender, gender identity or expression; affectional or sexual orientation; disability; veteran or military status or liability for military status; domestic violence victim status; atypical cellular or blood trait; genetic information (including the refusal to submit to genetic testing) or any other characteristic protected by law.
GD-SG
LI-GZ
VHD
All compensation will be determined commensurate with demonstrated experience. Employees may be eligible to participate in Company employee benefit programs, and additional benefits information can be found here.
Job Title: Senior Equipment Process Engineer - Downstream
- Location: Framingham, MA
About the Job
The Senior Equipment Process Engineer - Downstream is the technical owner for an assigned portfolio of manufacturing, utility, facility, or laboratory equipment. This role improves equipment safety, compliance, availability, and lifecycle performance by combining hands-on troubleshooting with effective maintenance strategies, equipment changes, technical documentation, and cross-functional leadership.
Join a global network that powers how Sanofi delivers — seamlessly, purposefully, and at scale. In Manufacturing & Supply, you’ll help reimagine how life-changing treatments reach people everywhere, faster.
About Sanofi:
We’re an R&D-driven, AI-powered biopharma company committed to improving people’s lives and delivering compelling growth. Our deep understanding of the immune system and innovative pipeline enables us to invent medicines and vaccines that treat and protect millions of people around the world. Together, we chase the miracles of science to improve lives.
Main Responsibilities
- Own equipment performance and lifecycle: Maintain asset health, design basis, operating limits, criticality, failure history, documentation, maintenance strategy, obsolescence risks, and improvement priorities.
- Lead troubleshooting and field support: Diagnose complex mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, and control-interface issues. Partner directly with mechanics and technicians through repair, testing, and return to service.
- Build executable maintenance plans: Develop and technically approve complete work packages, including scope, sequence, labor, parts, tools, permits, LOTO, acceptance criteria, post-maintenance testing, and restoration requirements.
- Optimize preventive maintenance and spares: Create risk-based PM strategies, equipment BOMs, critical-spares lists, stocking recommendations, and obsolescence mitigation plans using equipment criticality, failure modes, OEM guidance, and operating history.
- Lead equipment changes and projects: Define technical requirements and lead design reviews, vendor selection, FAT/SAT, commissioning, qualification, turnover, training, maintenance readiness, and documentation for modifications and new equipment.
- Own technical quality actions: Lead equipment-specific change controls and CAPAs, provide timely deviation assessments, and ensure approved hardware changes are implemented, tested, documented, and effectively closed.
- Drive reliability improvement: Use downtime, repeat work, deviations, maintenance findings, and condition data to eliminate bad actors and improve reliability, maintainability, safety, and compliance.
- Coordinate vendors and stakeholders: Develop technical scopes, assess vendor capability and performance, and collaborate with Operations, Quality, Validation, Metrology, HSE, Automation, Engineering, Procurement, Stores, and Finance.
Key Deliverables
- Technically complete, schedule-ready work packages and maintenance master data.
- Risk-based PM programs, accurate equipment BOMs, and critical-spares strategies.
- Timely, technically sound closure of deviations, CAPAs, change controls, and engineering actions.
- Reduced repeat failures, emergency work, avoidable downtime, and obsolete-component exposure.
- Complete maintenance readiness and technical turnover for equipment changes and new assets.
- Accurate, traceable, and inspection-ready drawings, specifications, manuals, and records.
About You
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical, electrical, chemical, biomedical, or related engineering discipline.
- At least 3 years of engineering experience supporting manufacturing, facilities, utilities, laboratories, or complex process equipment in a regulated or high-reliability environment.
- Demonstrated equipment troubleshooting capability using drawings, manuals, data, failure history, and structured root-cause methods.
- Experience developing job plans, PM tasks, technical specifications, spare-parts recommendations, or maintenance strategies.
- Experience supporting equipment modifications, commissioning, qualification, change control, deviations, or CAPAs.
- Ability to work effectively in the field and communicate technical risk and recommendations to technical teams and leaders.
Preferred
- Experience in biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical, medical-device, SUT, or other cGMP manufacturing.
- Working knowledge of CMMS/EAM systems, equipment BOMs, work-order controls, and maintenance master data.
- Knowledge of reliability methods, including criticality, FMEA, root cause analysis, condition monitoring, bad-actor elimination, and lifecycle planning.
- Experience with P&IDs, electrical and mechanical drawings, instrumentation, controls interfaces, and OEM technical packages.
- PE, CMRP/CRL, Lean/Six Sigma, project-management training, or related professional certification.
Why choose us?
- Bring the miracles of science to life alongside a supportive, future-focused team.
- Discover endless opportunities to grow your talent and drive your career, whether it’s through a promotion or lateral move, at home or internationally.
- Enjoy a thoughtful, well-crafted rewards package that recognizes your contribution and amplifies your impact.
- Take good care of yourself and your family, with a wide range of health and wellbeing benefits including high-quality healthcare, prevention and wellness programs and at least 14 weeks’ gender-neutral parental leave.
- Shape the future of medicine and vaccine delivery with cutting-edge technology, ensuring seamless launches and a resilient global supply.
- Power industry-leading performance by leveraging digital, data, and AI-driven innovation – at speed and scale.
- Transform lives worldwide by delivering life-changing treatments anywhere, anytime.
Sanofi Inc. and its U.S. affiliates are Equal Opportunity employers committed to a culturally inclusive workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race; color; creed; religion; national origin; age; ancestry; nationality; marital, domestic partnership or civil union status; sex, gender, gender identity or expression; affectional or sexual orientation; disability; veteran or military status or liability for military status; domestic violence victim status; atypical cellular or blood trait; genetic information (including the refusal to submit to genetic testing) or any other characteristic protected by law.
GD-SG
LI-GZ
VHD
All compensation will be determined commensurate with demonstrated experience. Employees may be eligible to participate in Company employee benefit programs, and additional benefits information can be found here.
See all 98+ OPT Equipment Engineer Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new OPT Equipment Engineer Jobs.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding OPT Sponsorship as an Equipment Engineer
Target STEM-designated programs
Equipment Engineer roles typically fall under STEM-eligible CIP codes, qualifying you for a 24-month OPT extension. Confirm your degree program's CIP code with your DSO before applying to maximize your work authorization window.
Focus on semiconductor and aerospace employers
Companies like Intel, Applied Materials, and Lockheed Martin routinely sponsor equipment engineers. These industries have established immigration infrastructure and understand OPT timelines, making them more receptive to F-1 candidates than smaller manufacturers.
Highlight specific tool experience in your resume
Employers hiring for equipment engineering want hands-on familiarity with specific systems, such as CVD, PVD, or lithography tools. Naming the exact equipment you've operated signals immediate productivity and reduces perceived sponsorship risk.
Apply early relative to your OPT start date
Equipment engineer roles often involve onboarding timelines of four to eight weeks. Starting your job search at least three months before your OPT authorization begins gives employers enough runway to complete hiring without rushing sponsorship decisions.
Address OPT duration proactively with recruiters
When asked about work authorization, frame your STEM OPT extension clearly: you have up to three years of authorization without employer petition costs. This removes a common objection before it becomes a reason to deprioritize your application.
Pursue roles in fab or R&D environments
Cleanroom and R&D equipment roles at universities, national labs, and semiconductor fabs carry higher sponsorship rates. These environments depend on specialized technical talent and are structurally more comfortable hiring and eventually sponsoring international engineers.
Equipment Engineer OPT: Frequently Asked Questions
Can I work as an Equipment Engineer on OPT?
Yes, Equipment Engineer roles qualify for OPT as long as the work is directly related to your degree field, typically mechanical, electrical, or materials engineering. If your degree carries a STEM CIP code, you're also eligible for the 24-month STEM OPT extension, giving you up to three years of total work authorization after graduation.
Do Equipment Engineer employers commonly sponsor H-1B visas?
Sponsorship rates are relatively strong in semiconductor fabrication, aerospace, and industrial automation, where specialized equipment knowledge is hard to replace. Larger employers in these sectors, including chip manufacturers and defense contractors, have dedicated immigration teams and routinely file H-1B visa petitions for equipment engineers who perform well during OPT. Smaller contract manufacturers are less consistent.
What degree fields qualify an Equipment Engineer role for STEM OPT?
Degrees in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, materials science, chemical engineering, and engineering physics are the most common qualifying fields. Your specific CIP code, not just your degree title, determines STEM OPT eligibility. Confirm the designation with your international student office before assuming the extension applies to your situation.
How do I find Equipment Engineer jobs that are open to OPT candidates?
Migrate Mate filters job listings specifically for roles open to F-1 OPT and STEM OPT candidates, which eliminates the time spent screening out positions that require permanent authorization upfront. Equipment engineer listings on Migrate Mate include sponsorship history and employer context relevant to international candidates, making it a more targeted starting point than general job boards.
Does equipment engineering experience at a university lab count toward OPT employment?
Yes, paid work in a university research lab or cleanroom facility qualifies as valid OPT employment if it's directly related to your degree field. You must be receiving compensation, as volunteer work does not satisfy OPT employment requirements. Report the position to your DSO and ensure it's documented in SEVIS within the required reporting window.