Principal Application Engineer

Henkel; Irvine (CA); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 155,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

Work-Life Balance

401k matching

Parental leave & family support

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Henkel in Irvine, CA seeks a seasoned leader to drive KPI-based improvements in advanced semiconductor packaging and to serve as the primary technical interface for key customers. You will guide a small team, manage cross-functional collaboration, and push for innovation in materials testing and product performance.

The role requires deep packaging expertise, strong customer communication, and the ability to coordinate with APAC teams, with travel up to 10% and a hybrid work setup.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field.
• 12 years of experience in semiconductor packaging or processes with people manager experience.
• Solid understanding of current and emerging packaging trends, including 2.5D and 3D packaging.
• Proven ability to work independently and lead technical discussions with customers.
• Strong communication skills with a customer-focused, ownership-driven mindset.
• Effective project and time management skills, with a consistent focus on quality and delivery.
• Willingness to travel up to 10%.
• Ability to take meetings with APAC team during off-hours.

Responsibilities

• Develop and evaluate KPI results and drive innovation and continuous improvement via data driven decisions and actions.
• Leverage semiconductor knowledge in advanced packaging e.g. 2.5D, HBM, CoWoS technical requirement and trend to accelerate material testing and test vehicle development.
• Primary technical interface to leading edge clients, addressing and resolving issues related to product implementation, functionality, or performance.
• Responsible for application functions and tasks to sales, marketing, PD and other business units.
• Manage a small (2-4) Application Engineering team to achieve project deliverables.

Skills

Semiconductor packaging

People management

Project management

Customer-focused communication

Time management

Willingness to travel

APAC coordination

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science

Job description

About this Position

At Henkel, you’ll be part of an organization that’s shaping thefuture through innovation, sustainability and collaboration. With our trustedbrands like Persil®, ‘all®, Loctite®, Snuggle®, and Schwarzkopf® and ourcutting-edge technologies, you’ll have countless opportunities to explore newpaths and grow. This position is with our Adhesive Technologies business unit –where we empower our people to transform industries and provide our customerswith a competitive advantage through adhesives, sealants and functionalcoatings. Dare to learn new skills, advance inyour career and make an impact at Henkel.

What you´ll do

• Develop and evaluate KPI results and drive innovation and continuous improvement via data driven decisions and actions
• Leverage semiconductor knowledge in advanced packaging e.g. 2.5D, HBM, CoWoS technical requirement and trend to accelerate material testing and test vehicle development
• Primary technical interface to leading edge clients, addressing and resolving issues related to product implementation, functionality, or performance
• Responsible for application functions and tasks to sales, marketing, PD and other business units
• Manage a small (2-4) Application Engineering team to achieve project deliverables

What makes you a good fit

• Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field
• 12 years of experience in semiconductor packaging or processes with people manager experience
• Solid understanding of current and emerging packaging trends, including 2.5D and 3D packaging
• Proven ability to work independently and lead technical discussions with customers
• Strong communication skills with a customer-focused, ownership-driven mindset
• Effective project and time management skills, with a consistent focus on quality and delivery
• Willingness to travel up to 10%
• Ability to take meetings with our APAC team during off-hours

Some benefits of joining Henkel

• Health Insurance: affordable plans for medical, dental, vision and wellbeing starting on day 1
• Work-Life Balance: Paid time off including sick, vacation, holiday and volunteer time, flexible & hybrid work policies (depending on role), and vacation buy / sell program
• Financial: 401k matching, employee share plan with voluntary investment and Henkel matching shares, annual performance bonus, service awards and student loan reimbursement
• Family Support: 12-week gender neutral parental leave (up to 20 weeks for parents giving birth), fertility support, adoption & surrogacy reimbursement, discounted child and elderly care, and scholarships
• Career Growth: diverse national and international growth opportunities, access to thousands of skills development courses, and tuition reimbursement

The salary rangefor this role is $130,000.00 and $155,000.00. This range represents the good‑faith minimumand maximum wages the Company reasonably expects to offer for this role at thetime of posting.In addition to base salary, this position may be eligiblefor incentive pay or other forms of compensation, as applicable. TheCompany also offers a comprehensive benefits package as described above. Actualcompensation will be based on factors such as the candidate’s skills,experience, education, training, and work location. This posting is intended tocomply with all applicable state and local pay transparency laws. Henkel does notaccept unsolicited resumes from search firms or employment agencies.Unsolicited referrals and resumes are considered Henkel property and therefore,Henkel will not pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of anunsolicited referral. At Henkel, wecome from a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences. Webelieve the uniqueness of all our employees is the power in us. Henkel is anequal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard torace, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status,genetic information, and other legally protected categories.