R&D Process Engineer - Wafer Wet Process Engineer

R&D Process Engineer

The High Frequency Technology Center (HFTC) is seeking an R&D Process Engineer to develop, maintain, and optimize manufacturing processes to fabricate passive interposer substrates for Keysight's Heterogeneous Integration technology. This position is onsite at Keysight Headquarters in Santa Rosa, CA. Live in beautiful Sonoma County amongst vineyards, redwood forests, rivers, lakes, and coastline while working on state-of-the-art advanced packaging technologies.

The Process Engineer will own process development and process control to meet quality and production metrics. Responsibilities include a combination of R&D and manufacturing in partnership with Design, Integration, Test, Operations, Maintenance, Product, and Failure Analysis teams. The Process Engineer is accountable for yield, cycle time, throughput, and quality of their process. This role involves technical depth in semiconductor processing, strong hands-on aptitude, as well as effective communication and teamwork to meet department-level objectives.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Deep knowledge and expertise with wafer process development in one or more of the following areas in order of preference:
  Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP), Solvent Stripping, Wet Etch, Electroplating.
• Own and advance performance across wet processes, CMP, Wet Etch/Clean, Strip and Plating by driving quality, chamber health, defect reduction, yield improvement, and overall process robustness through structured DOEs.
• Collaborate with equipment engineering on tool performance optimization, preventive-maintenance strategies, throughput enhancements, and new tool installs or upgrades.
• Drive process control and stability through SPC charting, daily reviews, root-cause analysis, and corrective actions using statistical tools (e.g., JMP).
• Working closely with other process integration, product, and circuit design engineers to define process and performance targets.
• Defining process flows, develop new processes, and drive continuous process improvement (CPI) efforts to maximize product yield.
• Report process metrics, root cause investigations, and process change implementations at the department level.
• Ensuring successful process hand off to manufacturing partners.
• Working with Operations to implement robust process control and support production processes; diagnose and resolve process problems with urgency.
• Leading capital equipment acquisition projects that include tool evaluation, characterization, process development, and qualification.
• Broader experience in upstream and downstream processes and the ability to understand process interactions.

• M.S. or Ph.D. in Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, or related fields
• 5+ years of professional, hands-on experience as process engineer with development and/or maintaining semiconductor wet processes and equipment
• Knowledge of hardware systems to carry process steps, in the following order of preference: CMP, Solvent Stripping, Wet Etch, Electroplating, or similar wet processes
• Familiarity with systems handling chemicals, such as pumps, flow monitoring and control, filters, CMP-specific systems, and chamber-hardware configurations
• Strong problem-solving skills for measurement anomalies and tool-drift issues
• Experience with statistical process control (SPC) and design of experiments (DOE) is required
• Academic experience will be considered in addition to industry experience if proven to attain the techniques of interest
• Candidates must have strong problem-solving and analytical skills as well as excellent interpersonal and communication skills for cross-functional interactions
• Strong accountability, self-initiative, and proactive attitude are required for success

Candidates must be local or willing to relocate to Santa Rosa, CA. This position requires access to certain goods, software, technology, or technical data subject to U.S. export control laws and regulations. Under these laws and regulations, U.S. persons (which includes U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees) working for Keysight can access export-controlled items without authorization from the U.S. government.

For any individual who is not a U.S. person, Keysight may need authorization from the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Commerce, or other appropriate federal agency before the individual can access export-controlled items. Candidates must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident of the U.S., or protected individual, having authorization from the U.S. government for export-controlled items under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).

Keysight is on the forefront of technology innovation, delivering breakthroughs and trusted insights in electronic design, simulation, prototyping, test, manufacturing, and optimization. Our ~15,000 employees create world-class solutions in communications, 5G, automotive, energy, quantum, aerospace, defense, and semiconductor…