Senior Thin-Film Coating Engineer: Process Dev & Scale-Up

Precision People; Leicester; On-site; GBP 54,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

33 days' holiday

Pension

Job summary

Precision People in Leicester seeks an experienced Thin Film Coating Engineer to drive development and production of advanced coating processes. You will work across vacuum deposition, metrology and QA to ensure coating performance meets optical, electrical and mechanical specs. The role combines hands-on process development with scale-up to high-volume manufacturing, offering exposure to PVD, sputtering and CVD technologies.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Materials Science, Physics, Chemical Engineering or related STEM field.
• 5+ years hands-on experience with industrial vacuum deposition systems.
• Experience in high-volume manufacturing environments.
• Knowledge of quality systems and process control.
• Experience with PVD, sputtering, e-beam evaporation or CVD.
• Proven ability to develop and optimise coating processes.
• Familiarity with SPC, DOE and process capability.
• Experience with thin-film metrology and characterisation.

Responsibilities

• Develop and optimise thin-film coating processes for production.
• Design coating stacks and simulate performance using software ( Essential Macleod, TFCalc, OptiLayer ).
• Develop deposition recipes using PVD, sputtering, e-beam evaporation and/or CVD.
• Plan and run DOE to optimise parameters and establish robust process windows.
• Implement and maintain SPC for thickness, refractive index and adhesion.
• Investigate coating defects and drive improvements in yield and cost.
• Support CAPA, MRB and structured problem-solving (8D, 5-Why, Fishbone).
• Ensure ISO 9001 quality standards compliance.
• Use metrology equipment to assess coating performance.
• Maintain calibration and preventive maintenance of equipment.
• Develop reliability testing including thermal cycling and humidity tests.
• Scale processes from pilot to high-volume production.
• Produce SOPs and train technicians.
• Lead Lean/Kaizen continuous improvement initiatives.
• Collaborate with customers, suppliers and internal teams to resolve issues.

Skills

Vacuum deposition expertise

DOE planning

Statistical process control

Analytical thinking

Problem solving

Communication skills

Independent working

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science / Physics / Chemical Engineering

Master’s degree (advantage)

PhD (advantage)

Tools

PVD

Sputtering

E-beam evaporation

CVD

Job description

Precision People in Leicester seeks an experienced Thin Film Coating Engineer to drive development and production of advanced coating processes. You will work across vacuum deposition, metrology and QA to ensure coating performance meets optical, electrical and mechanical specs. The role combines hands-on process development with scale-up to high-volume manufacturing, offering exposure to PVD, sputtering and CVD technologies.