Staff Surface Process Engineer & Chemist — Scale Surfaces

Foresite Labs; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Foresite Labs is seeking a Staff Surface Process Engineer / Surface Chemist in San Diego to advance surface chemistry processes from lab to manufacturing. You will develop cleaning, coating, deposition, and functionalization methods, and lead equipment qualification and process transfer in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary setting.

The role involves hands-on lab work, DOE-driven experiments, and close collaboration with chemistry, engineering, optics, and manufacturing teams to ensure high yield

Qualifications

• Experience in surface processing and process development with uniformity and yield focus.
• Experience developing manufacturing-ready surface processes and equipment qualification.
• Proficiency in DOE, process optimization, and statistical analysis tools (JMP, Python, R).
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for cross-functional teams.
• Hands-on willingness to develop and troubleshoot processes in lab environments.

Responsibilities

• Develop surface processing methods: cleaning, deposition, coating, curing, QC.
• Develop robust vapor-phase deposition processes with emphasis on uniformity.
• Lead development, qualification, and troubleshooting of plasma cleaning.
• Specify, develop, and troubleshoot process equipment and automation.
• Establish process windows, critical parameters, and SPC for surface treatments.
• Design and execute DOE experiments to optimize surface performance.
• Characterize surfaces using ellipsometry, contact angle, AFM, XPS, SEM, etc.
• Translate lab processes into scalable manufacturing methods with high yield.
• Drive equipment selection, installation, qualification, and transfer to manufacturing.
• Mentor junior scientists and engineers with rigorous experimentation.

Skills

Surface processing

Process development

DOE (Design of Experiments)

Statistical analysis (JMP, Python, R)

Strong communication

Collaborative environment

Hands-on laboratory troubleshooting

Education

M.S. or Ph.D. in Mechanical Eng, Chemistry, Chemical Eng, Materials Science or related

Tools

Vacuum deposition equipment

Plasma tools

Ellipsometer

XPS

AFM

Profilometer

Optical microscope

SEM

Job description

Foresite Labs is seeking a Staff Surface Process Engineer / Surface Chemist in San Diego to advance surface chemistry processes from lab to manufacturing. You will develop cleaning, coating, deposition, and functionalization methods, and lead equipment qualification and process transfer in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary setting.

The role involves hands-on lab work, DOE-driven experiments, and close collaboration with chemistry, engineering, optics, and manufacturing teams to ensure high yield