Senior Chemist, Technical Laboratory Operations

Senior Chemist, Technical Laboratory Operations

Entegris is currently seeking a Senior Chemist, Technical Laboratory Operations to join our Analytics & Metrology, Trace Metals team. This position will be based in our Burnet facility.

In this role, you will be responsible for ensuring reliable, high-throughput analytical metrology in a production laboratory supporting semiconductor-grade precursors and wet chemical cleans. This role focuses on measurement execution, data quality, contamination control, and instrument performance to ensure materials consistently meet stringent semiconductor specifications. The position plays a key role in maintaining analytical readiness, resolving production-related issues, and ensuring measurement systems remain stable, precise, and audit-ready.

• Perform and oversee routine trace metals analysis of semiconductor chemicals using ICP-MS and ICP-OES
• Analyze and interpret ultra-trace metal impurity data at ppb–ppt levels for production release
• Review and approve analytical results, ensuring conformance to tight product specifications
• Ensure consistent achievement of detection limits and sensitivity requirements for key metallic contaminants
• Conduct all work in cleanroom or clean-controlled environments, following strict contamination control protocols
• Enforce best practices for ultra-clean sample handling, preparation, and transfer
• Minimize environmental and cross-contamination sources (labware, reagents, gases, operator technique)
• Ensure proper gowning, materials handling, and workflow discipline aligned to semiconductor standards
• Serve as primary technical expert for ICP-MS and ICP-OES systems in a production environment
• Maintain instrument performance including tuning, calibration, interference control, and drift management
• Perform advanced troubleshooting of sensitivity loss, background contamination, and instrument instability
• Ensure system suitability, QC checks, and performance benchmarks are consistently met
• Support preventive maintenance and coordinate repairs to maximize instrument uptime
• Monitor and maintain measurement system stability, precision, and reproducibility
• Apply statistical tools (SPC, trending, control charts) to detect shifts in analytical performance
• Investigate out-of-spec (OOS), out-of-trend (OOT), and excursion events related to metals analysis
• Ensure methods remain fit-for-purpose without introducing unnecessary variability
• Support real-time production decisions through rapid and reliable metals data
• Lead analytical investigations into contamination events affecting product quality or customer returns
• Partner with manufacturing and quality teams to identify root causes of metal contamination
• Provide clear technical interpretation of results to support dispositioning decisions
• Ensure compliance with semiconductor customer requirements, ISO 17025 (if applicable), and SEMI standards
• Maintain and follow SOPs, test methods, and data review procedures specific to metals analysis
• Ensure full adherence to data integrity principles (ALCOA+)
• Support audits and customer inquiries related to trace metals measurement capability
• Evening and weekend support as needed to support lab chemists and laboratory operations

What We Seek

• Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Materials Science, or related field (advanced degree preferred)
• 7+ years of experience in trace metals analysis, preferably in high-purity or semiconductor environments
• Deep expertise in ICP-MS (required) and ICP-OES (required) operation and troubleshooting
• Strong experience working at ultra-trace detection levels (ppt–ppb)
• Hands-on experience in cleanroom or contamination-controlled laboratory environments

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting semiconductor materials (precursors, acids, solvents, cleans)
• Familiarity with interference mitigation techniques (collision/reaction cell, spectral correction, matrix effects)
• Experience with clean chemistry techniques (acid purification, low-metal labware practices)
• Familiarity with SEMI standards and semiconductor customer purity expectations
• Experience with LIMS and SPC tools for production data management

Why Work at Entegris

Lead. Inspire.…