Deposition & Etch Equipment and Production Engineer (H/F)

Alice & Bob; Aubervilliers; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

BSBCE/Stock options

IP bonuses for core patents

Parental plan with additional benefits

Job summary

Alice & Bob is building the first universal, fault-tolerant quantum computer. You will join as a Tool Owner and hands-on production engineer responsible for deposition and etch tools, uptime, maintenance, and qualified recipes in a fast-growing cleanroom.

Based in Aubervilliers, you will partner with Process Development to transfer recipes into production, train operators, and drive continuous improvements while upholding safety and MES traceability.

Qualifications

• 3+ years hands-on in a semiconductor cleanroom, pilot line, or micro/nanofabrication facility, with direct equipment operation and maintenance experience (not just supervision)
• Experience with process control in production/pilot-line settings (SPC, control plans, FMEA, or R&D-to-production transfer)
• Preventive maintenance, troubleshooting, and supplier coordination on capital equipment
• Hands-on command of at least one of: UHV sputtering/deposition (cryo pumping, chamber/source maintenance), metal evaporation (ideally shadow-angle), or plasma etching (ICP-RIE, endpoint detection)
• Solid grounding in semiconductor unit processes and vacuum systems
• Comfortable with production/equipment data (MES, spreadsheets, basic statistical analysis)
• Experience building and reporting against a load plan under equipment, maintenance, and personnel constraints
• Experience writing SOPs and training others on them
• Strong ownership mindset, sound judgment to stop and mitigate, and early, factual communication
• Willingness to train on and back up tools outside your core scope
• Master's or engineering degree in microelectronics, materials science, physics, or related field — or equivalent experience
• Fluent English; French not required (fab teams work in English)

Responsibilities

• Working in Tandem with Process Development — Partner with a Process Development Process Owner on each tool: they own the recipe and process window, you own making it run reliably and at cadence in production
• Your tools — Keep your process equipment running: uptime, maintenance, troubleshooting, spares, and acting on drift before it turns into scrap. Cross-train at least two qualified operators per tool so none depends on a single person
• Process transfer and control — Take each process from R&D to production: freeze the recipe, define spec limits, write the SOP, qualify operators and tools. Build control plans with your Process Owner, run SPC monitoring, conduct process FMEAs, and apply change control on qualified recipes
• The weekly load plan — Turn the wafer launch plan into a tool‑level plan, level the load across technicians, and flag early when output and plan diverge
• Execution at cadence and quality — Run qualified recipes on experimental and test wafers, stop and accelerate out‑of‑spec steps, decide on affected wafers with Process Development, and keep full MES traceability
• Documentation & training — Write and improve SOPs, and qualify and train technicians alongside your Process Owner counterpart
• Continuous improvement — Remove bottlenecks, track KPIs, contribute to failure analysis, and use process data to propose and validate improvements with your Process Owner
• Safety — Apply cleanroom and equipment safety rules, and contribute to risk assessments, including for unattended operation

Skills

Semiconductor cleanroom experience

Process control

Maintenance and troubleshooting

Vacuum systems

MES data analysis

Load planning

SOP writing

Teamwork

English fluent

Education

Master's or engineering degree

Microelectronics / materials science background

Tools

UHV deposition

Shadow-angle evaporation

ICP‑RIE etching

Metallization/evaporation

SPC tools

Job description

Alice & Bob is developing the first universal, fault‑tolerant quantum computer to solve the world’s hardest problems.

The quantum computer we envision building is based on a new kind of superconducting qubit: the Schrödinger cat qubit.

In comparison to other superconducting platforms, cat qubits have the astonishing ability to implement quantum error correction autonomously!

We’re a diverse team of 250+ brilliant minds from over 35 countries united by a single goal: to revolutionise computing with a practical fault‑tolerant quantum machine. Are you ready to take on unprecedented challenges and contribute to revolutionising technology? Join us, and let’s shape the future of quantum computing together!

The role

You join as a Tool Owner and hands‑on production engineer on the deposition and etch scope: superconductor deposition, metal evaporation (including shadow‑angle evaporation), and dry etching. These are the long‑run tools the weekly output depends on — when a chamber goes down, the line feels it within a day.

You're accountable for a defined set of tools: their uptime, maintenance, utilisation, and the qualified recipes that run on them at industrial cadence. For each tool, you form a binome with a Process Owner from Process Development Engineering—you own the asset and its execution, they own the recipe and its process window; you solve the hard problems and qualify operators together.

You're joining a team at its creation, reporting to the Cleanroom Operations Manager. You'll build the operation rather than inherit one.

Two Tool Owner positions are open in parallel — one on lithography, one on deposition and etching. If your experience spans both, apply to whichever fits best; the team will route you accordingly.

Responsibilities

• Working in Tandem with Process Development — Partner with a Process Development Process Owner on each tool: they own the recipe and process window, you own making it run reliably and at cadence in production
• Your tools — Keep your process equipment running: uptime, maintenance, troubleshooting, spares, and acting on drift before it turns into scrap. Cross-train at least two qualified operators per tool so none depends on a single person
• Process transfer and control — Take each process from R&D to production: freeze the recipe, define spec limits, write the SOP, qualify operators and tools. Build control plans with your Process Owner, run SPC monitoring, conduct process FMEAs, and apply change control on qualified recipes
• The weekly load plan — Turn the wafer launch plan into a tool‑level plan, level the load across technicians, and flag early when output and plan diverge
• Execution at cadence and quality — Run qualified recipes on experimental and test wafers, stop and accelerate out‑of‑spec steps, decide on affected wafers with Process Development, and keep full MES traceability
• Documentation & training — Write and improve SOPs, and qualify and train technicians alongside your Process Owner counterpart
• Continuous improvement — Remove bottlenecks, track KPIs, contribute to failure analysis, and use process data to propose and validate improvements with your Process Owner
• Safety — Apply cleanroom and equipment safety rules, and contribute to risk assessments, including for unattended operation

Requirements

• 3+ years hands‑on in a semiconductor cleanroom, pilot line, or micro/nanofabrication facility, with direct equipment operation and maintenance experience (not just supervision)
• Experience with process control in production/pilot‑line settings (SPC, control plans, FMEA, or R&D‑to‑production transfer)
• Preventive maintenance, troubleshooting, and supplier coordination on capital equipment
• Hands‑on command of at least one of: UHV sputtering/deposition (cryo pumping, chamber/source maintenance), metal evaporation (ideally shadow‑angle), or plasma etching (ICP‑RIE, endpoint detection)
• Solid grounding in semiconductor unit processes and vacuum systems
• Comfortable with production/equipment data (MES, spreadsheets, basic statistical analysis)
• Experience building and reporting against a load plan under equipment, maintenance, and personnel constraints
• Experience writing SOPs and training others on them
• Strong ownership mindset, sound judgment to stop and mitigate, and early, factual communication
• Willingness to train on and back up tools outside your core scope
• Master's or engineering degree in microelectronics, materials science, physics, or related field — or equivalent experience
• Fluent English; French not required (fab teams work in English)

Also valued — superconducting materials, Josephson junction or quantum device fabrication; thin film characterization (thickness, resistivity, uniformity); R&D or pilot‑line environments where production and development share the same tools; commissioning or qualifying tools in a new facility.

Working conditions

On site in Aubervilliers, in cleanroom garment daily. Standard working hours — no shift work and no night work.

Recruitment process

• Screening call with Alexandra, Talent Acquisition (30 min)
• Interview with the Cleanroom Operations Manager (45 min)
• Technical interview with the team (60 min)
• Leadership and fit interview (60 min)

Benefits:

• Our success is your success: own it with our BSPCE plan
• Direct IP Compensation: Earn substantial bonuses for driving the core patents that define our quantum architecture
• A Parental plan including additional benefits such as crèche support or additional days-off to take care of under 12 years old children
• Subsidized membership with Urban Sports Club
• Mental health support with moka.care
• 25‑day vacation policy (as per French law) + RTT
• Half of transportation cost coverage (as per French law), or yearly allowance for the die‑hard bicycle users
• Competitive health coverage, with Alan
• Meal vouchers with Swile, as well as access to a fully equipped and regularly stocked kitchen
• French language courses covered by the company for those interested

Research shows that women might feel hesitant to apply for this job if they don't match 100% of the job requirements listed. This list is a guide, and we'd love to receive your application even if you think you're only a partial match. We are looking to build teams that innovate, not just tick boxes on a job spec.

You will join of one of the most innovative startups in France at an early stage, to be part of a passionate and friendly team on its mission to build the first universal quantum computer!

We love to share and learn from one another, so you will be certain to innovate, develop new ideas, and have the space to grow.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.