Senior Manager, Vacuum Wafer Process Engineering

About Our Group

At Seagate, our mission is to build the world's best data storage devices. The wafer process engineering team is responsible for controlling all tooling in our state‑of‑the‑art cleanroom that is used to fabricate Magnetic Recording Heads used within Seagate Hard Disk Drives (HDDs). We employ both traditional process‑control methods as well as more novel Advanced Process Control (APC) algorithmic systems to analyze the health of our processes in real time, making required adjustments automatically.

Our recording head manufacturing line delivers the latest generation of magnetic recording heads based on HAMR technology.

In this position you will be a leader responsible for managing a sub‑set of our existing team. Our team consists of vacuum deposition (including PVD, ALD, evaporation, etc), etching & ion milling process engineers responsible for improving factory processes. You will also collaborate with other teams including process development, design, equipment engineering, manufacturing, industrial engineering, and yield as well as with cross‑site (Seagate Ireland) managers & engineers.

If you are passionate about innovative technology, a proven leader, excellent communicator, and enthusiastic about quality assurance and continuous improvement, this could be the perfect opportunity to advance your process engineering career.

Act as a leader in the process engineering organization:

• Be responsible for building, leading, and developing a high‑performing process engineering team, fostering a culture of accountability, results, and continuous improvement.
• Develop engineers by training, coaching, evaluating, and reinforcing engineering principles.
• Provide strong leadership to the engineering team by collaborating on project completion, assigning roles that align with team members’ strengths, and ensuring consistent productivity.
• Mentor the team offering guidance, support, and opportunities for personal growth to achieve departmental and company objectives.
• Offer strategic planning insights focused on enhancing process efficiency, implementing automation, improving manufacturability, and driving innovation in new product and process development.
• Work closely with various departments such as design, yield, equipment engineering, industrial engineering, production, and operations to ensure smooth integration of new products and processes.

Take on the role of project manager:

• Support the oversight and implementation of capital and process improvements to optimize both new and existing processes.
• Manage and drive engineering projects from initial concept through to full implementation, ensuring solutions are effective, timely, and cost‑efficient.
• Actively monitor current production performance within the wafer process engineering organization, providing technical solutions to achieve Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Production targets.
• Apply Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing methodologies to promote continuous improvement across the factory, and oversee regular metrics reporting.
• Oversee the selection, installation, qualification, and troubleshooting of wafer manufacturing equipment.

• You have extensive experience in wafer process engineering: vacuum deposition, reactive etching, ion milling & evaporation.
• You have a proven track record of leading teams through challenging situations.
• You have demonstrated ability to set priorities for a team and run meetings to coordinate team activities.
• Six sigma and 8D problem‑solving experience applied to manufacturing or yield optimization.

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Materials Science, Chemistry, Physics and 12+ years of experience, or Master's degree in Engineering, Materials Science, Chemistry, Physics and 8+ years of experience, or PhD and 5+ years of experience or equivalent education and experience.
• Working extensively in wafer process engineering, including vacuum deposition, reactive etching, ion milling and evaporation.
• Leading teams through challenging situations with a strong record of effective guidance.
• Setting clear priorities for a team and running meetings that keep activities…