Principal Engineer – Thin-Film & Process Engineering

ENSURGE; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 190,000 - 270,000; Full time

Job summary

Ensurge Micropower seeks a Principal Engineer – Thin-Film & Process Engineering to own deposition and process engineering for microbattery manufacturing. You will lead sputtering/PVD development, optimize deposition parameters, and drive scalability from R&D to pilot and production.

You will partner with cell design, materials, and equipment teams to improve yield, reliability, and process capability, delivering robust processes and controlling critical parameters across the manufacturing flow.

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in sputtering/PVD processes and thin-film deposition

Responsibilities

• Lead development and optimization of sputtering/PVD processes for microbattery layers.
• Develop robust process recipes and operating windows for manufacturing scale-up.
• Collaborate with materials, equipment, and manufacturing teams to improve yield and reliability.
• Transfer processes from R&D into pilot and full-scale production.

Job description

About Ensurge

Ensurge Micropower is developing next-generation solid-state microbatteries using advanced thin-film and semiconductor-compatible manufacturing technologies. Our technology platform combines sputtering, thin-film materials, precision patterning, multilayer stacking, and advanced cell architectures.

We are seeking a Principal Engineer – Thin-Film & Process Engineering to serve as a technical leader for the development, optimization, and scale-up of our thin-film and cell manufacturing processes.

This is a highly hands-on role for an engineer with deep expertise in sputtering/PVD, thin-film processing, process optimization, DOE, and manufacturing scale-up.

Role Overview

The Principal Engineer will be the technical owner for thin-film deposition and process engineering, with particular emphasis on sputtering/PVD processes and their integration into the overall microbattery manufacturing flow. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing robust processes, establishing process windows, troubleshooting complex process issues, improving yield and repeatability, and transferring processes from R&D into scalable manufacturing. This individual will work closely with cell design, materials, equipment, characterization, and manufacturing teams.

Key Responsibilities

Sputtering & Thin-Film Process Development

• Lead development and optimization of sputtering/PVD processes for microbattery electrodes, electrolytes, current collectors, barriers, and other functional layers.
• Develop process recipes and establish robust operating windows.
• Optimize deposition parameters including power, pressure, gas flow, substrate temperature, deposition rate, target condition, and substrate configuration.
• Understand and control film thickness, composition, density, stress, adhesion, morphology, uniformity, and electrical/electrochemical properties.
• Develop strategies to improve film uniformity across substrates and through production runs.
• Troubleshoot sputtering chamber and process-related issues.
• Partner with equipment engineering to improve chamber performance, uptime, throughput, and repeatability.

Process Optimization

• Lead structured DOE and statistical process optimization.
• Identify critical process parameters and critical-to-quality characteristics.
• Establish process windows and operating limits.
• Analyze process data to identify sources of variation and yield loss.
• Develop corrective and preventive actions based on data and root-cause analysis.
• Establish process capability and statistical controls for critical processes.
• Drive continuous improvement in yield, throughput, quality, and reliability.

Thin-Film Materials & Characterization

• Correlate deposition parameters with thin-film properties and cell performance.
• Partner with materials and characterization teams to investigate film composition, structure, density, stress, adhesion, and interfaces.
• Use characterization techniques such as SEM, XRD, XPS, profilometry, EIS, optical microscopy, and other appropriate analytical methods.
• Develop failure-analysis approaches for deposition and interface-related defects.
• Translate characterization results into process improvements.

Process Integration

• Work closely with the cell design team to ensure cell architecture is compatible with manufacturing capabilities.
• Define process requirements and limitations that should influence cell design.
• Develop integrated process flows covering deposition, patterning, stacking, assembly, and testing.
• Identify interactions between individual process steps and downstream cell performance.
• Optimize the complete process rather than individual steps in isolation.

Manufacturing Scale-Up

• Transfer laboratory processes into pilot and manufacturing environments.
• Develop scalable processes with appropriate controls and specifications.
• Establish process documentation, specifications, work instructions, and control plans.
• Support equipment selection, qualification, commissioning, and process validation.
• Develop methods to monitor process stability and detect process drift.
• Work with operations and manufacturing engineering to improve throughput and yield.

Technical Problem Solving

• Lead root-cause investigations for process and product failures.
• Develop hypotheses, design experiments, analyze data, and implement corrective actions.
• Provide technical leadership during high-priority manufacturing and development issues.
• Ensure high-quality data and reproducible experiments support conclusions.

Technical Leadership

• Serve as the principal technical authority for thin-film and process engineering.
• Establish process-development methodologies and engineering standards.
• Mentor process engineers and technicians.
• Review