Team Leader – Deposition & Etch
Location: UK, Suffolk – onsite working requiredSalary: Competitive, depending on experience
We’re working with a leading technology organisation that is expanding its semiconductor manufacturing capabilities and is looking for an experienced Team Leader with a strong background in deposition and etch.
This is a hands-on leadership position where you’ll combine technical process engineering expertise with people management, taking ownership of a specialist team working across advanced III-V semiconductor manufacturing.
You’ll be responsible for ensuring processes are stable, capable and continually improving, while developing the engineers and technicians around you. It’s a great opportunity for someone who has built a strong technical career in a semiconductor fab and is now looking to take greater ownership of a team, technology area and longer-term roadmap.
What You’ll Be Doing:
- Lead and develop a team of process engineers, technicians and cleanroom personnel working across deposition and etch.
- Provide technical direction across process development, optimisation and troubleshooting.
- Take ownership of process performance, stability, yield and continuous improvement within your area.
- Develop and optimise processes for III-V semiconductor materials, including InP, GaAs and GaN.
- Work with technologies such as RIE, ICP-RIE, PECVD and ALD.
- Drive recipe development, process qualification and technology transfer from development through to manufacturing.
- Support the introduction, installation and qualification of new semiconductor processing equipment.
- Use SEM and FIB-SEM to investigate defects, cross-sections and process performance.
- Lead investigations into process excursions, yield issues and reliability problems.
- Apply DoE, SPC, MSA / Gauge R&R and statistical analysis to improve process capability and robustness.
- Use structured problem-solving techniques including 8D, FMEA and OCAP to identify root causes and implement corrective actions.
- Build technical capability within the team through training, mentoring and development plans.
- Establish team KPIs and ensure projects and engineering activities remain aligned with wider business objectives.
- Work closely with R&D, process integration, manufacturing, equipment and quality teams to deliver new technologies and improve existing processes.
- Contribute to the longer-term technology roadmap for deposition and etch.
What We’re Looking For:
- A degree, Master’s or PhD in Materials Science, Physics, Semiconductor Technology, Engineering or a related subject.
- 5+ years’ semiconductor process engineering experience within a cleanroom/fab environment.
- Strong hands-on experience with III-V semiconductor processing, ideally InP, GaAs and/or GaN.
- A solid technical background in deposition and/or etch, with experience across technologies such as RIE, ICP-RIE, PECVD or ALD.
- Experience with process development, recipe optimisation and equipment qualification.
- Practical experience using SEM and/or FIB-SEM for process characterisation and failure analysis.
- Good understanding of SPC, DoE, MSA / Gauge R&R and data-driven process improvement.
- Experience with structured problem-solving and quality methodologies such as 8D, FMEA and OCAP.
- Previous experience leading, supervising or mentoring engineers/technicians — ideally 3+ years.
- Strong communication skills and the ability to work across technical, manufacturing and R&D teams.
Please get in touch with Christina McGuire to hear more about this role!
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