Application Engineer

Nova Ltd. • Hillsboro, OR

8d

About The Position

Nova is seeking a Senior Application Engineer, a highly technical and motivated individual, to support its growth in the semiconductor industry. This role involves engaging with Nova customers to develop high-value, innovative optical metrology applications in semiconductor manufacturing. The engineer will apply robust statistical techniques to optimize applications for the high-volume manufacturing (HVM) fab environment and provide regional support for new product introduction and evaluation activities, such as beta and head-to-head evaluations. Nova is recognized as a Great Place to Work and fosters a customer-focused environment with a culture of continuous learning, working with cutting-edge metrology tools and top engineers.

Requirements

• Ph.D. or Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Material Science or relevant field.
• Strong knowledge of spectroscopy, SIMS/XPS/XRF metrology systems.
• 3-5 years of experience in the semiconductor manufacturing environment is a plus but not required.
• Be a customer centric applications and product expert.
• Be familiar with customer operating methods, procedures, and policy.
• Adhere to customers’ site policies and guidelines with regard to performance and behavior.
• Maintain customers’ information with the utmost confidentiality.
• Self-starter with high energy and strong work ethic.
• Highly collaborative and able to manage conflict.
• Exceptional presentation, verbal skills to clearly articulate technical/analytical information.
• Be polite, cordial, considerate, and respectful when communicating with customers, vendors and fellow employees.
• Perform with the highest degree of integrity and dignity.
• Be able to travel domestically up to 25%.
• Self-starter with high energy and strong work ethic.
• Highly collaborative and able to manage conflict.
• Candidate must have demonstrated independence and drive towards completing objectives.
• Demonstrated ability to manage customer-facing technical deliverables with strong organization, proactive communication, clear status tracking, and consistent follow-through across cross-functional teams.

Nice To Haves

• A strong background in metrology technologies, especially SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry), XPS (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy), XRF (X-ray Fluorescence) highly desired.
• Identify and lead penetration efforts with new products to increase the Nova market share.
• Extensive hands-on fab experience and strong background in semiconductor manufacturing processes (lithography, CMP, deposition, wet and dry etch).
• Demonstrate skills in systematic problem solving and technical communication.
• Ability to collaborate effectively across customers, HQ, and engineering teams while maintaining structured execution and timely follow-through.
• Strong ownership mindset with emphasis on transparency, accountability, and operational continuity.

Responsibilities

• Develop SIMS/XPS/XRF metrology applications for Nova’s products in semiconductor R&D and manufacturing fabs.
• Use knowledge and experience in Materials Science, Semiconductor Fabrication and metrology to develop new applications using SIMS/XPS/XRF.
• Perform Gauge R&R testing to quantify system performance and dependencies using sound statistics.
• Support company’s activities on-site and at other key accounts as necessary – projects include beta evaluations, new product introduction, head-to-head evaluations, customer production ramp, etc.
• Provide on-site application support to Nova’s strategic customer.
• Prepare reports to assist in technical and marketing solutions.
• Solve application problems received from customer End Users, Applications Manager and Nova Service team in a timely manner.
• Develop a strong working relationship with Nova customers and Nova employees.
• Test new features in Nova’s products and make proposals for software/hardware changes to support new capabilities.
• Train & update customers, peers in the applications group and other Nova employees.
• Assist End Users and Nova service engineers in troubleshooting Nova products in the field.
• Maintain a high level of knowledge of the semiconductor process and industry trends.
• Remain involved and up-to-date with new application solutions and products.
• Perform demos and make presentations to Nova customers as required.
• Support development of new application features and assist in their market penetration.
• Support various pre and post sales activities and assist in marketing activities.

Benefits

• Certified Great Place to Work: Recognized between 2022-2026 based on employee feedback and consistently ranked among the Top 30 companies in our industry for workplace excellence.
• Customer-Focused Environment: Be the face of Nova. We value strong relationships, and you’ll work closely with customers to understand their needs and deliver high-impact solutions.
• Culture of Continuous Learning: At Nova, growth never stops. You'll work with cutting-edge metrology tools, work with top engineers, and participate in ongoing industry training programs.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior