Senior Thin Film Engineer - Irvine, CA, United States
$100,000 - $140,000 USD yearly
Originally posted 5 July 2026 by the employer.
Optical thin film deposition using ion beam sputtering, ion assist, and electron beam coating.
About the role
As a Senior Thin Film Engineer at MKS Newport, you will partner with Thin Film Engineering to develop, support, execute, and maintain coating designs and processes. This role focuses on optical thin film deposition processes including ion beam sputtering, ion assist, and electron beam coating.
What you'll do
- Develop, design, and optimize optical thin film deposition processes to meet requirements and specifications for ion beam sputtering, ion assist, and electron beam coating processes. - Collaborate with design engineers and technicians to resolve technical issues, troubleshoot, and characterize coating chambers processes. - Characterize equipment and coating processes to reduce downtime. - Manage defect issues, implement root cause solutions, and support improvements in quality and cost. - Support the team with process documentation, training, and formalizing work instruction documents. - Support the coating process and deliver training to technicians and machine maintenance personnel.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's degree in Materials Science, Physics, or Engineering. - 3-5 years of in-depth experience in a thin film manufacturing environment. - Experience correlating thin film performance with deposition chamber hardware and processes. - Experience troubleshooting and problem solving thin film processes. - Proficiency using Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint. - Strong communication skills.
Skills: thin film manufacturing, ion beam sputtering, electron beam coating, coating chambers, process documentation
This role has been open 107 days — well above the 75-day median for Process Engineering roles.
Process Engineering · Semiconductor Process
|
Open roles in category
1042
|
Median days open
75 d
|
Median salary
$137k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | MKS Instruments | All employers we track in this specialty (1042 roles · 56 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 1 | 1042 |
| Open roles in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family | 75 | 10066 · 107 employers |
| Median days open | 107 d | 75 d (+32 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $137k |
Skills observed across this category: thin film manufacturing, ion beam sputtering, electron beam coating, coating chambers, process documentation
Who's hiring in this category
- Micron Technology · 352 open roles · median 137 d
- GlobalFoundries · 83 open roles · median 85 d
- Applied Materials · 72 open roles · median 69 d
- Texas Instruments · 53 open roles · median 56 d
- STMicroelectronics · 52 open roles · median 47 d
- Entegris · 45 open roles · median 39 d
How we counted: 1042 open Process Engineering (Semiconductor Process) roles from 56 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 21 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.