Process Scientist

Job Code: 007120

Job Open Date: 10/25/2023

Application Review Date: 11/09/2023; open until filled

Department Code (Name): ELEG (ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING)

Percentage of Time: 100%

Union Code (Name): 99 Non-Represented

Employee Class (Appointment Type): Staff (Career)

FLSA Status: Exempt

Classified Indicator (Personnel Program): PSS

Salary Grade: Grade 23

Work Location: Engineering Science - 1109

Working Days and Hours: M-F; 8am - 5pm

Benefits Eligibility: Full Benefits

Type of Remote or Hybrid Work Arrangement, if applicable: N/A

Hiring/Budgeted Salary Range: $110,000 - $148,000/yr.

Full Salary Range: Salary offers are determined based on final candidate qualifications and experience; the budget for the position; and the application of fair, equitable, and consistent pay practices at the University. The full salary range for this position is $82,300 to $151,700/yr. The salary range the University reasonably expects to pay is $110,000 to $148,000/yr.

Special Instructions

For full consideration, please include a resume and a cover letter as part of your application.

Department Profile

The UCSB Nanofabrication Facility within the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department is a world class cleanroom consisting of class 100 and class 1000 cleanroom space. The 12000+ sq. ft. facility supports a wide spectrum of disciplines with optics, electronics, materials, MEMS, and physics making up the majority of the users. The 400+ user cleanroom serves UCSB faculty, grad students, and researchers as well as a vast number of external companies, universities, and government institutions across the nation. The NanoFab is continually updating, installing and qualifying new fabrication tools & processes to stay at the cutting edge of wafer fabrication techniques.

Benefits of Belonging

Working at UC means being part of this vibrant institution that shines a light on what is possible. People make UC great, and UC recognizes your contributions by making this a great place to work. Excellent retirement and health are just one of the rewards. Learn more about the benefits of working at UC

Brief Summary of Job Duties

Under the general direction of a Project Scientist, develops new processes and establishes process control on a variety of nanofabrication research tools in the facility, including thin film deposition, inductively coupled plasma etching, and projection lithography. Priority is given to processes that will impact the largest number of users in the facility and for new equipment characterization. Performs direct hands-on processing jobs for internal and external users of the facility, developing/repeating fabrication processes as needed. Provides engineering advice and guidance to faculty, graduate student researchers and external researchers.

Required Qualifications

• Demonstrated organizational and decision-making abilities to prioritize competing work assignments in order to meet deadlines and adherence to quality standards.
• Ability to work in a collaborative manner; identify challenges and barriers and recommend resolutions.
• Bachelor's Degree - BS with appropriate experience and / or equivalent experience and/or training.
• 4-6 years of experience with all aspects of cleanroom wafer processing.

Preferred Qualifications

• Thorough knowledge and experience with engineering principles and methods to independently perform the full range of engineering professional design work.
• Strong analytical and judgment skills to independently conduct analyses and develop appropriate recommendations.
• Effective written and verbal communication and presentation skills.
• Master's Degree in related area or equivalent experience/training.
• PhD in related area or equivalent experience/training.

Special Conditions of Employment

• Satisfactory conviction history background check
• UCSB is a Tobacco-Free environment
• Must be eligible to work in the US (sponsorship not required)
• Must be able to commute to the UCSB campus on a regular basis.

Job Functions/Percentage of Time/Duties

50% Process Development - Develops new fabrication processes that benefit facility users in terms of improved process quality, repeatability, process understanding and equipment reliability/uptime. Development includes improvements for existing tools to increase utilization, new equipment qualifications/development, and research experiments for novel processes that would benefit users of the facility. Priority is given to processes that will impact the largest number of users in the facility, and for new equipment characterization. Engineer will work closely with the Process Scientist Manager and Equipment Engineers, advising on operating procedures and fabrication processes for optimal tool performance, utilization and uptime.

20% User Support - Gives process guidance and perform processing jobs for internal and external lab users as needed. Provides complex engineering advice and guidance to faculty and graduate student researchers and will independently interact with external researchers and manage the external researcher fabrication projects he/she performs. Applies gained process knowledge to solve user problems and advise in user’s experiment designs.

10% Process Support - Troubleshoots deviations of standard processes from established SPC charts, from established recipes in the process database, and specific unique problems faced by users as needed.

10% Process Control Management - Performs and establishes process control on select fabrication tools used in the Nanofabrication Facility, such as PECVD, ICP etchers, reactive sputtering systems, and lithography tools. Generate SPC (Statistical Process Control) charts to track critical processes used on facility equipment, track changes to processes after tool maintenance, work with other development engineers to determine optimum maintenance and tool cleaning schedules based on data with a goal of keeping the systems operating at their highest level with minimum dead time. Explores process parameter changes to make systems more stable and repeatable. Posts data on web for users.

10% Process Database Management - Creates and maintains a standard process database on the main website for a variety of processes and materials used in the facility. Gathers and verifies, through experimentation, process data and recipes from other professional process staff members and users, disseminates into standard format, searchable pdf files, post on web for easy user access to established equipment recipes. Is responsible for management of this database and for establishing the sets of standard recipes on the laboratory's most heavily used systems.