Staff Photolithography Process Engineer

SkyWater Technology Foundry, Inc.•Austin, TX

13h•$94,320 - $141,480

About The Position

SkyWater Technology is seeking a Staff Photolithography Process Engineer to develop, optimize, characterize, and sustain photolithography processes in a high-volume manufacturing environment. The role owns production lithography processes and drives continuous improvements in yield, defectivity, critical dimension (CD), overlay, throughput, and cost. It develops process-control strategies and metrology and monitoring plans, monitors statistical process control (SPC) data, investigates process issues and yield losses, and implements corrective and preventive actions. The engineer collaborates with equipment, integration, and other cross-functional teams to troubleshoot process and equipment issues, qualify new chemicals, materials, and process changes, and lead projects that improve manufacturing performance. The role also applies data mining, programming, scripting, and statistical analysis to improve process understanding and engineering efficiency, while communicating findings and managing multiple projects independently. The annual salary range is $94,320–$141,480. Pay is based on factors including job-related experience, skills, education, and credentials. SkyWater offers competitive salary and participation in incentive plans, along with employee financial benefits and a comprehensive benefits package.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in engineering or a related technical field.
At least 4 years of photolithography process engineering experience in a high-volume mass-production environment.
Applied knowledge of photolithography processes, process optimization, overlay and alignment improvement, and critical dimension (CD) variation reduction.
Experience optimizing processes on TEL tracks and ASML steppers and scanners (I-line, KrF, and dry ArF).
Experience setting up and optimizing resist processes, with and without TARCs or BARCs, on existing fab tools.
Experience with overlay on ARCHER tools and CD job writing on NANOSEM and HITACHI SEMs.

Nice To Haves

Strong understanding of semiconductor photolithography processes, equipment, and manufacturing operations.
Hands-on experience developing and characterizing lithography processes, including process windows and overlay margins.
Proficiency in SPC, DOE, data mining, and process data analysis.
Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills and a meticulous, data-driven approach to process improvement.
Experience identifying process variation, reducing defectivity, improving yield, and addressing process marginalities in production.
Strong communication, project management, and cross-functional collaboration skills, including the ability to manage multiple priorities independently.

Responsibilities

Develop, optimize, characterize, and sustain photolithography processes for high-volume manufacturing.
Own and sustain production lithography processes, improving yield, defectivity, critical dimension (CD), overlay, throughput, and cost.
Develop process-control strategies and recommend metrology and monitoring plans to maintain process stability and capability.
Monitor inline and end-of-line SPC charts, identify trends and abnormal process behavior, and implement corrective and preventive actions.
Analyze process data to find sources of variation, process marginalities, and improvement opportunities.
Investigate lithography-related defects, patterning failures, CD variation, overlay errors, and yield losses using structured problem-solving, statistical analysis, and design of experiments (DOE).
Collaborate with equipment, integration, and cross-functional engineering teams to troubleshoot process and equipment issues and improve manufacturing capability.
Develop new lithography processes and execute qualification plans for new chemicals, materials, and process changes.
Lead engineering projects to close process performance gaps, achieve milestones, and deliver measurable improvements in yield, productivity, and cost.
Apply data mining, programming, scripting, and statistical analysis to improve process understanding and engineering efficiency.
Communicate technical findings and present data-driven recommendations while building working relationships across engineering, manufacturing, and support organizations.
Manage multiple projects independently, demonstrate technical ownership, and deliver commitments in a high-volume semiconductor manufacturing environment.