Staff Process Engineer – Thin Film & Metal Deposition

Nokia•Sunnyvale, CA

3d•$139,000 - $198,000

About The Position

At Nokia Optical Networks, advanced photonic technologies are developed and manufactured as scalable products for global communications infrastructure. The team produces Indium Phosphide (InP) Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) for coherent optics, high-speed transceivers, tunable lasers, optical amplifiers, and next-generation networking solutions. The Staff Process Engineer will lead the development, optimization, qualification, and sustainment of thin-film and metallization deposition processes for advanced photonic device manufacturing. The role involves hands-on work with deposition equipment, chamber hardware, materials, and metrology systems, as well as collaboration with device, integration, lithography, etch, reliability, and manufacturing teams to deliver robust, manufacturable process solutions. The successful candidate will provide technical leadership and rapid support for a 24x7 production operation.

Requirements

M.S. or Ph.D. in Materials Science, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, or a related technical discipline; alternatively, a B.S. degree with 5+ years of semiconductor, photonics, or advanced manufacturing experience will be considered.
Strong experience in thin-film deposition, metallization, and related semiconductor fabrication processes.
Experience with semiconductor process development, integration, yield improvement, and production support.
Working knowledge of vacuum systems, deposition equipment, process control methodologies, and materials characterization techniques.
Demonstrated experience using DOE, SPC, JMP, statistical analysis, and data-driven problem solving.
Strong ownership mindset and demonstrated ability to drive projects independently and deliver measurable business impact.
Excellent troubleshooting and root-cause analysis skills.
Ability to prioritize effectively and respond quickly to manufacturing challenges.
Strong communication and collaboration skills in cross-functional technical environments.
Familiarity with AI-enabled engineering tools and modern data analytics methods.

Nice To Haves

Hands-on experience with PECVD, PVD sputtering, e-beam evaporation, thermal evaporation, electroplating, ALD, or related deposition technologies.
Experience with InP, GaAs, silicon photonics, III-V semiconductors, and optical device manufacturing.
Understanding of optical device requirements, including film stress control, refractive index control, optical loss reduction, adhesion, and long-term reliability.
Experience developing Au-based metallization systems for photonic and optoelectronic devices.
Familiarity with semiconductor characterization techniques including ellipsometry, profilometry, four-point probe, SEM, AFM, XRF, XRD, and film stress measurements.
Experience with new equipment acceptance, qualification, process transfer, and factory ramp activities.
Experience supporting high-volume manufacturing environments.
Experience collaborating with equipment suppliers and technology partners on joint development activities.
Passion for manufacturing excellence and continuous improvement.
Proven success balancing long-term technology development objectives with urgent production support requirements.

Responsibilities

Develop, qualify, and sustain thin-film and metallization processes for InP photonic integrated circuit manufacturing.
Own and optimize deposition processes including PECVD, PVD sputtering, evaporation, electroplating, and other vacuum-based deposition technologies.
Support deposition of dielectric and metallic optical and electrical functional films.
Lead electrochemical deposition development and optimization, including plating chemistry control, bath maintenance, current density optimization, deposition rate control, thickness uniformity, stress management, and defect reduction.
Optimize film thickness, within-wafer uniformity, refractive index, stress, adhesion, sheet resistance, contact resistance, composition, and defectivity.
Develop metallization processes for lasers, modulators, SOAs, photodiodes, RF structures, and passive optical components.
Drive defect reduction, yield improvement, and process capability enhancement using DOE, SPC, advanced analytics, and statistical process control methodologies.
Perform root-cause analysis and implement corrective actions for process excursions, film quality issues, equipment failures, and integration challenges.
Analyze processes using first-principles, physics-based approaches to understand and manipulate mechanisms rather than relying only on recipes.
Collaborate with lithography, wet etch, dry etch, device engineering, integration, reliability, and manufacturing teams to optimize process performance.
Lead evaluations of new materials, process technologies, deposition hardware, and equipment upgrades.
Partner with equipment vendors and material suppliers on chamber matching, hardware improvements, reliability enhancements, and cost-of-ownership initiatives.
Support technology transfer from development into production while maintaining process stability and manufacturability.
Provide rapid response and technical leadership during process excursions and production-impacting events.
Support a 24x7 manufacturing environment through issue escalation, troubleshooting, and on-call support when required.
Use AI-enabled engineering tools, automation, and advanced data analytics to improve process development efficiency and manufacturing performance.