Hardware Development Engineering
Originally posted 30 October 2026 by the employer.
About the role
Western Digital is seeking an Early Career Photolithography Process Engineer to join the wafer manufacturing team. In this role, you will develop, optimize, and sustain photolithography processes used in high-volume manufacturing.
What you'll do
- Support photolithography process development, optimization, and sustaining activities for high-volume wafer manufacturing.
- Monitor process and equipment performance using Statistical Process Control (SPC), Advanced Process Control (APC), and statistical analysis.
- Participate in root cause investigations and corrective actions for process excursions, yield issues, and equipment events.
- Execute experiments and process characterizations using Design of Experiments (DOE) methodologies.
- Support the qualification of new equipment, materials, and process technologies.
- Collaborate with Integration, Metrology, Yield Enhancement, Maintenance, Manufacturing, and Product Engineering teams.
What you'll need
- B.S. or M.S. degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry, or a related technical discipline.
- Experience in semiconductor manufacturing, microfabrication, research laboratories, or other technology-focused environments.
- Demonstrated ability to interpret data and identify trends using data analysis tools such as JMP, Python, SQL, Minitab, SAS, or MATLAB.
Nice to have
- Internship, co-op, research, or manufacturing experience in semiconductor processing or wafer fabrication.
- Familiarity with cleanroom environments and semiconductor manufacturing practices.
- Exposure to photolithography concepts including photoresist coating, exposure, development, overlay, and critical dimension control.
- Knowledge of Design of Experiments (DOE), Statistical Process Control (SPC), and Advanced Process Control (APC).
- Experience with scripting, automation, machine learning, or data visualization tools.
Skills: photolithography, photoresist, overlay, critical dimension, SPC
More semiconductor jobs: Process engineer jobs
This role has been open 0 days — well below the 65-day median for Process Engineering roles.
Process Engineering · Semiconductor Process
|
Open roles in category
1093
|
Median days open
65 d
|
Category median salary (all employers)
$135k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Western Digital | All employers we track in this specialty (1093 roles · 56 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 24 | 1093 |
| Open roles in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family | 178 | 10156 · 105 employers |
| Median days open | 31 d | 65 d (−34 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $135k |
Skills observed across this category: photolithography, photoresist, overlay, critical dimension, SPC
Who's hiring in this category
- Micron Technology · 312 open roles · median 132 d
- GlobalFoundries · 92 open roles · median 85 d
- Applied Materials · 79 open roles · median 72 d
- Texas Instruments · 57 open roles · median 59 d
- STMicroelectronics · 55 open roles · median 52 d
- Entegris · 43 open roles · median 35 d
How we counted: 1093 open Process Engineering (Semiconductor Process) roles from 56 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 30 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family row. Figures refresh nightly.