Director - Equipment Engineering & Tool Installation

Job/Position Summary

The Head of Equipment Engineering & Tool Installation will lead the specification review, procurement support, installation, commissioning, qualification, maintenance setup, and ramp readiness of process and metrology tools for the company’s advanced substrate manufacturing facility in India. This role is critical during the greenfield fab setup phase and will ensure that all tools are correctly specified, utility-ready, safely installed, qualified on schedule, and transitioned into stable manufacturing operation.

The ideal candidate will have hands‑on experience in semiconductor, OSAT, advanced substrate, PCB, display, or precision electronics manufacturing equipment, with the ability to work across global tool vendors, facilities teams, process engineers, EHS, procurement, and construction contractors.

• Own equipment engineering for substrate fab tools, including wet process, plating, lithography, laser processing, PVD/seed, dielectric buildup, lamination, develop/etch/strip, surface finish, metrology, inspection, reliability, and electrical test.
• Review and validate tool specifications, utility matrices, footprints, service clearances, floor loading, vibration requirements, exhaust needs, chemical requirements, UPW/DI water requirements, drainage, power, CDA, vacuum, nitrogen, and chilled water.
• Work with process integration to convert the process flow into tool capability requirements and capacity assumptions.
• Support make‑versus‑buy and day‑one‑versus‑phase‑two equipment decisions.
• Identify tool gaps, duplicate capability risks, capacity bottlenecks, and utility conflicts.

• Support procurement in the technical evaluation of equipment vendors and commercial packages.
• Participate in RFQ/RFP preparation, technical bid comparison, vendor discussions, and negotiation support.
• Define acceptance criteria, FAT/SAT requirements, warranty expectations, spare parts packages, service agreements, and training requirements.
• Review vendor drawings, installation manuals, hookup requirements, and shipping/rigging constraints before purchase order release.

• Work with facilities, cleanroom, MEP, and EPC teams to finalize tool layout and hookup design.
• Ensure each tool has correct utility drops, exhaust connections, drains, chemical lines, gas panels, safety interlocks, and maintenance access.
• Coordinate tool move‑in path, rigging plans, cleanroom access, loading dock requirements, and temporary storage.
• Validate tool‑to‑tool flow, operator access, material movement, service corridor access, and maintenance clearance.
• Prevent late‑stage layout changes caused by incorrect tool utility assumptions.

• Lead the tool installation schedule and manage vendor installation activities.
• Own tool installation checklists, safety reviews, utility readiness, pre‑installation inspections, and installation sign‑off.
• Coordinate FAT, SAT, IQ/OQ/PQ, and process qualification readiness.
• Work with process, quality, and manufacturing teams to qualify tools for production.
• Establish equipment acceptance documentation and handover to operations.
• Track tool installation risks, open issues, punch lists, and vendor corrective actions.

• Build the equipment maintenance organization for the fab.
• Define preventive maintenance schedules, calibration plans, critical spare parts lists, consumables, service contracts, and tool uptime KPIs.
• Establish MTBF, MTTR, uptime, availability, and maintenance response metrics.
• Develop local maintenance capability while managing vendor support.
• Create escalation paths for chronic tool problems and yield‑impacting equipment issues.

• Ensure all equipment installations comply with EHS, fire safety, electrical safety, chemical safety, and statutory requirements.
• Review tool safety features, including interlocks, emergency stops, exhaust monitoring, leak detection, chemical containment, and waste handling.
• Maintain equipment documentation, including manuals, utility specs, installation…