Develop and optimize photolithography processes using steppers, contact aligners, and Tanner L-Edit mask layout.
About the role
Responsible for developing, optimizing, and maintaining the photolithography process used in semiconductor manufacturing.
What you'll do
- Develop, optimize, and maintain photolithography processes and execute Design of Experiments (DOE) for process performance, yield, and efficiency.
- Generate mask layouts for lithography tools including contact aligners, steppers, and direct-write laser systems.
- Characterize processes and components using semiconductor metrology tools, profilometers, interferometers, SEM, electrical testers, and optical testers.
- Work with outside laboratories to characterize processes and devices, conduct failure analyses, and model optoelectronic devices.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate new processes and interface regularly with Process Engineering and Equipment Engineering.
- Troubleshoot and resolve technical issues with photolithography equipment and processes while indirectly managing engineering technicians and operators.
What you'll need
- BS in Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field.
- 5+ years of related industrial experience and managing semiconductor or MEMS foundries.
- Hands-on experience with thick and thin positive photoresists, lift-off photoresists, negative photoresists, and sidewall profiling interactions with etch profiles.
- Hands-on experience operating steppers, contact aligners, maskless exposure, spin coaters, HMDS prime, and related photolithography equipment.
- Proficiency with layout design software tools (e.g., Tanner L-Edit).
- Familiarity with clean room environments, safety regulations, and processing equipment such as wet etch, plasma etch, plasma ashing, ICP, CVD, PVD, and ALD.
- Proficiency in Design of Experiments (DOE) and Statistical Process Control (SPC) methodologies.
Nice to have
- MS or PhD in Engineering.
- 10+ years of related industrial experience.
- Knowledge of semiconductor device physics.
- Proficiency with JMP software.
- Proficiency with database queries using SQL.
Skills: photolithography, photoresist, stepper, mask layout, DOE, clean room
More semiconductor jobs: Process engineer jobs · Sunnyvale jobs
This role has been open 4 days — well below the 62-day median for Process Engineering roles.
Process Engineering · Semiconductor Process
|
Open roles in category
1026
|
Median days open
62 d
|
Category median salary (all employers)
$135k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Avicena | All employers we track in this specialty (1026 roles · 55 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 4 | 1026 |
| Open roles in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family | 22 | 10057 · 117 employers |
| Median days open | 4 d | 62 d (−58 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $135k |
Skills observed across this category: photolithography, photoresist, stepper, mask layout, DOE, clean room
Who's hiring in this category
- Micron Technology · 292 open roles · median 122 d
- Applied Materials · 67 open roles · median 74 d
- Texas Instruments · 59 open roles · median 66 d
- GlobalFoundries · 51 open roles · median 72 d
- STMicroelectronics · 49 open roles · median 61 d
- Entegris · 46 open roles · median 39 d
How we counted: 1026 open Process Engineering (Semiconductor Process) roles from 55 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 8 Nov 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.