Senior Principal Applications Engineer / Technical Lead

FormFactor Inc.•Livermore, CA

8d•$136,200 - $178,815•Onsite

About The Position

FormFactor is seeking a Senior Principal Applications Engineer / Technical Lead to serve as a senior customer-facing technical leader supporting strategic semiconductor customers and advanced wafer probe solutions. This role is responsible for driving customer success across the entire customer lifecycle, from early technology evaluation through qualification, deployment, production release, High Volume Manufacturing (HVM), and long-term production support. The position is a key element of FormFactor's evolving Customer Solutions Team, focused on improving the end-to-end customer experience, increasing customer intimacy, and accelerating adoption of FormFactor technologies. The successful candidate will be recognized as a technical authority in semiconductor test and characterization and will work closely with customers, Engineering, Product Management, Marketing, Service, and Sales to support advanced applications including Silicon Photonics (SiPh), Co-Packaged Optics (CPO), AI/HPC, Advanced Packaging, Memory, Foundry, Logic, RF, and High-Speed Digital technologies. This individual must excel in highly complex and ambiguous situations, provide leadership during customer escalations, and independently drive cross-functional teams to resolution while serving as a trusted advisor to strategic customers.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Photonics, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, or related technical discipline.
Experience in semiconductor test, semiconductor capital equipment, probe card technologies, wafer probe systems, device characterization, or related fields.
Demonstrated success supporting strategic semiconductor customers in both development and production environments.
Proven ability to lead complex technical engagements and customer escalations.
Strong communication and presentation skills with the ability to communicate effectively at both engineering and executive levels.
Ability to travel domestically and internationally as required.
Automated Test Equipment (ATE)
Wafer Probe Systems
Probe Cards
Semiconductor Test
Device Characterization
Parametric Test
Wafer Sort
Production Test
RF and Microwave Measurements
High-Speed Digital Testing
Signal Integrity
Silicon Photonics
Optical Characterization
Co-Packaged Optics (CPO)
Advanced Packaging
Heterogeneous Integration
Yield Improvement
Product Qualification
New Product Introduction (NPI)
Failure Analysis
High Volume Manufacturing (HVM)
Minimum of 8 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 6 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 3 years experience; or equivalent experience

Nice To Haves

JMP Scripting Language (JSL)
MATLAB
Python (Programming Language)

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary technical advisor for strategic semiconductor customers.
Build trusted relationships with customer engineering, manufacturing, operations, and executive teams.
Lead customer engagements from evaluation through qualification, production release, and HVM ramp.
Conduct on-site customer technical reviews, production readiness reviews, roadmap discussions, and executive briefings.
Present FormFactor's technology roadmap, product capabilities, and application solutions to customers and industry stakeholders.
Support product demonstrations, benchmarking activities, acceptance testing, and customer evaluations.
Partner with customers to improve yield, throughput, measurement accuracy, and manufacturing productivity.
Act as the senior technical escalation point for business-critical customer issues.
Develop and deploy advanced application methodologies for semiconductor probe and test solutions.
Support electrical, parametric, RF, optical, photonics, and high-speed device characterization.
Drive successful adoption of new products and advanced technologies.
Develop technical documentation, application notes, best practices, and customer training materials.
Analyze customer application challenges and recommend optimized solutions.
Support beta evaluations, technology transfers, qualification programs, and production ramps.
Serve as a recognized subject matter expert in semiconductor test, wafer probing, and device characterization.
Lead complex root cause investigations involving product, process, applications, and manufacturing issues.
Provide technical leadership across Applications, Engineering, Product Management, Service, and Manufacturing teams.
Mentor and coach Applications Engineers and other technical team members.
Establish best practices and drive knowledge sharing across global organizations.
Influence technical direction and contribute to the development of future customer solutions.
Lead cross-functional teams in highly dynamic and ambiguous situations where ownership, requirements, or technical direction may not be fully defined.
Drive clarity, accountability, and execution during customer escalations and critical business situations.
Balance customer requirements, business priorities, and technical constraints to achieve successful outcomes.
Make sound technical and business decisions under pressure and with limited information.
Create momentum and organizational alignment when addressing high-impact customer challenges.
Serve as the Voice of Customer to Product Management and Engineering organizations.
Identify emerging technology trends and customer requirements.
Influence product roadmaps through customer feedback and market insights.
Support strategic growth initiatives in Silicon Photonics, Co-Packaged Optics, AI/HPC, Foundry, Memory, and Advanced Packaging markets.
Assist Sales and Business Development teams with technical strategy and growth opportunities.