Materials and Process Engineer

About the role

Join a team that is redefining precision navigation by turning advanced engineering concepts into high‑performance hardware. As a Materials and Process Engineer you will help build proprietary inertial sensing technology, taking ultra‑high‑purity materials through fabrication, surface conditioning, and advanced vacuum‑sealed packaging.

Key responsibilities

• Source and qualify high‑purity crystal substrates for precision sensor manufacturing.
• Develop and optimise chemical cleaning, polishing and surface‑preparation processes to achieve exceptional surface quality.
• Design and execute vacuum‑packaging processes, including wafer bonding and integration of micro‑scale getters for long‑term vacuum stability.
• Perform precision post‑processing and micro‑tuning to correct geometric and mass imbalances.
• Coordinate cleanroom activities, schedule and oversee deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) with internal and external facilities.
• Collaborate with physicists and multidisciplinary engineering teams to translate sensor designs into manufacturable hardware.
• Document and continuously improve fabrication and packaging processes to maximise repeatability, yield and performance.
• Support prototype development, process validation and transition toward scalable manufacturing.

Required profile

• Master’s or PhD in Materials Science, Micro‑Systems Engineering, Physics or a related technical field.
• Hands‑on experience working in cleanroom environments.
• Strong understanding of wafer bonding, micro‑fabrication processes and surface chemistry.
• Experience with precision material modification techniques such as laser processing, ion‑beam machining or specialised chemical etching.
• Familiarity with vacuum‑packaging and micro‑scale assembly processes.
• Proven ability to develop and document manufacturing processes for high‑precision devices.
• Excellent analytical and problem‑solving skills with meticulous attention to detail.
• Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate across multidisciplinary teams.

Required skills

• Cleanroom operations
• Wafer bonding technologies
• Micro‑fabrication processes
• Surface chemistry
• Laser processing
• Ion‑beam machining
• Specialised chemical etching
• Vacuum‑packaging techniques
• Micro‑scale assembly
• Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE)
• High‑Q resonators (nice to have)
• Optical MEMS (nice to have)
• Inertial sensors (nice to have)
• Atomic clocks (nice to have)
• Semiconductor manufacturing knowledge