Senior Staff Process Development Engineer

About the role

Bold Thinking. World Changing. At SkyWater, our ingenuity helps improve lives around the world by manufacturing U.S. made semiconductors that are essential ingredients of modern life. Automotive safety enhancements, life-saving medical devices, consumer electronics and American security require semiconductors. Working in our Minnesota headquarters, Florida, or Texas location — employees join together to improve the world. Explore what’s possible. Joining our U.S. - based team means contributing to and learning about the commercialization of some of the most exciting technologies the world has ever seen. We are turning “science fiction” into everyday reality through technologies such as superconducting, 3D integrated circuits or computer chips, carbon nanotubes, photonic logic devices, micro electro-mechanical systems and other emerging device topologies. We manufacture products for aerospace and defense, medical, automotive, consumer and industrial markets, to name a few. Our customers include emerging leaders who rely on our intellectual property security and quality manufacturing services. Step into the future. SkyWater’s values of Integrity, Excellence, Collaboration, Empowerment and Growth Mindset guide us to cultivate an empowered, learning environment. We also invest in developing highly skilled, dedicated employees — and employees who are entering the workforce for the first time, from the military, and a variety of educational backgrounds. Are you bold thinking? Find your place on our team and help us change the world! In the Advanced Technology Services (ATS) group at SkyWater, our team works hand in hand with customers to develop a wide range of exciting new, novel, and fully customized technologies - including superconducting ICs, quantum computing devices, carbon nanotube devices, MEMs, Bio sensors, DNA sequencing devices, Si photonics, and III-V devices. We are seeking a Senior Staff Process Development Engineer to join our team, working on the fabrication and integration of quantum devices in a semiconductor foundry environment.

Responsibilities

• Develop and optimize fabrication process flows for wafer level manufacturing of low-loss photonic waveguides, ensuring seamless execution
• Support integration of components relevant to quantum applications
• Collaborate with process integration teams to troubleshoot yield, optical loss, and reliability issues across the fab flow
• Develop test and characterization methodologies for waveguide loss, modulator bandwidth, coupling efficiency, and device-level quantum metrics
• Interface with cross-functional teams (customer, design, process, packaging, test) to ensure manufacturability of quantum photonic devices
• Document process recipes, integration flows, and failure analysis for internal knowledge transfer and process control
• Collaborate with CAD engineers to validate incoming layout files, constructing frames with essential metrology boxes and electrical test structures.
• Implement data collection schemes and collaborate with process and tool experts to formulate effective process recipes.
• Design and conduct experiments to validate and optimize process recipes.
• Liaise with the failure analysis lab to submit samples for cross-sectioning, contributing to continuous improvement.
• Monitor customer material and proactively address processing issues, ensuring a smooth workflow.
• Conduct regular meetings with customers, providing updates on project progress as materials move through the production line.
• Deliver process reviews with the goal