PVD Senior Process Engineer

About the role

KLA's SPTS division designs and manufactures wafer processing solutions for the semiconductor industry, including PVD, PECVD and MVD technologies. This Senior Process Engineer position works within the PVD Samples team at the Newport factory, developing deposition processes and running customer wafers on PVD demo equipment. The role involves process recipe generation, hardware testing, reporting and IP submissions, and requires shift work, occasional weekend work and some international travel.

Key responsibilities

• Run PVD demo tools to agreed specifications, assess results with analytical equipment and software, and troubleshoot problems
• Work with Product Marketing to define demo specifications and report progress
• Develop new processes in line with KLA roadmaps, test enhanced hardware and give constructive feedback to project teams
• Research published work, write technical reports for patents and conference papers
• Support field teams with remote support for critical customer issues and coordinate complex responses
• Supervise junior engineers, write technical reports and IP submissions, and possibly write and review process specifications for customer tools
• Take on some project management coordination and advise field teams and the Newport team on application development and process tuning

Required profile

• Industry experience, ideally with semiconductor processing equipment and substrate metrology
• Degree, Masters or PhD (or equivalent experience) in chemistry, physics or a related field
• Minimum qualification: doctorate with 0 years' experience, Masters with 3 years' experience, or Bachelor's with 5 years' experience
• Creative, innovative problem solving and good analytical skills
• Good oral and written communication, able to work independently and in a small team

Required skills

• Measurement of films for thickness, resistance, stress, texture, roughness, reflectivity and X-section
• Shift work alternating between early (6am-2pm) and late (1.30pm-9.30pm) shifts, with occasional weekend work

What we offer

• Annual leave starting at 25 days plus bank holidays
• Contributory pension scheme, cash health plan and cycle to work scheme
• Global bonus plan, share scheme, rewards scheme and life assurance
• Generous shift allowance