Senior Crystal Growth Engineer

Responsibilities

• Own and improve crystal-growth processes from charge preparation and furnace setup through growth, cooldown, inspection, and disposition, with a focus on quality, yield, throughput, and safe operation.
• Lead a development-heavy portfolio for oxide and garnet materials while providing production-sustaining engineering support for deployed growth methods, including process stability, yield, quality, and equipment capability.
• Apply advanced understanding of thermal fields, temperature gradients, pull or translation rate, rotation, atmosphere, pressure, melt chemistry, crucible and hot-zone configuration, and seed orientation to control crystal quality and reproducibility.
• Provide technical leadership and hands‑on support for Czochralski, Bridgman‑Stockbarger, Float Zone, and Skull Melting processes; evaluate method selection and parameter windows for materials and product requirements.
• Plan, execute, and analyze structured process experiments and DOE; translate results into controlled work instructions, recipes, process specifications, and training materials.
• Investigate growth, material, and equipment excursions using data and root‑cause methods; define and verify corrective and preventive actions with Manufacturing, Quality, Maintenance, and Engineering partners.
• Use process and characterization data to identify trends in defects, inclusions, stress, cracking, composition, optical performance, and other relevant material attributes; recommend practical process improvements.
• Support furnace and ancillary‑equipment capability, including preventive maintenance priorities, calibration, controls, sensors, vacuum or inert‑gas systems, RF or induction systems, and troubleshooting of equipment‑related variation.
• Establish and maintain process‑control plans, risk assessments, change‑control records, and technical reports; communicate results, risks, and recommendations clearly to cross‑functional teams and leadership.
• Support transfer of new or improved processes from development to production, including qualification runs, acceptance criteria, operator training, and sustained process monitoring.
• Promote a strong EHS culture by following applicable procedures and identifying hazards associated with high temperature, vacuum, pressure, inert gases, RF/induction power, and materials handling.

• Bachelor's degree in Materials Science, Ceramic Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or a closely related technical discipline.
• At least 9 years of direct, hands‑on experience in crystal growth, crystal‑growth process development, or high‑temperature materials manufacturing.
• Direct experience growing oxide and/or garnet materials, or demonstrably transferable experience with comparable high‑temperature oxide crystal‑growth systems.
• Advanced working knowledge of crystal‑growth process physics and parameter control, including the relationship of thermal profile, melt behavior, atmosphere, growth rate, and equipment configuration to crystal quality and yield.
• Demonstrated familiarity with Czochralski, Bridgman‑Stockbarger, Float Zone, and Skull Melting techniques; depth in the methods used at the site will be evaluated during selection.
• Experience planning and interpreting experiments, analyzing process data, and applying statistical or structured problem‑solving methods to improve capability and reduce variation.
• Experience troubleshooting furnaces, controls, instrumentation, vacuum/inert‑gas systems, and related growth equipment in a manufacturing or development environment.
• Ability to write clear technical documentation and communicate effectively with operators, technicians, engineers, quality personnel, and leaders.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and data‑analysis tools used to document and evaluate process performance.
• Ability to work onsite in Budd Lake, New Jersey. Position level, reporting relationship, travel expectations, work schedule, compensation range, and any export‑control eligibility requirement are [TBD] pending business and HR confirmation.

• Master's degree or Ph.D. in relevant materials, engineering, or physical-science…