Senior Principal Engineer

The Senior Principal Engineer, External Foundry Operations, serves as the operational owner for assigned foundries. The role is accountable for supplier performance across quality, yield, capacity, cost, and manufacturing continuity, while collaborating with Supply Chain and Planning teams to support delivery requirements. This position leads complex cross-functional issues, supplier governance, and improvement programs while influencing internal and external stakeholders without direct authority.

Foundry Ownership and Performance

• Serve as the primary operational owner for assigned foundries and the key interface between suppliers and onsemi stakeholders.
• Own and improve foundry KPIs, including quality, yield, WIP, holds, scrap, capacity, and cost.
• Lead supplier operational reviews and QBRs; establish priorities, recovery plans, escalation paths, and closure criteria.

Manufacturing Execution and Supply Continuity

• Monitor wafer starts, WIP movement, lot status, and capacity commitments to support business demand.
• Identify production constraints, material risks, aging or held lots, and supply interruptions; drive timely mitigation and recovery.
• Ensure accurate foundry operational data and effective alignment of production priorities and supplier commitments.

Quality, Yield, and Excursion Management

• Lead containment and cross-functional resolution for excursions, maverick material, MRB, EFAR, customer complaints, and other foundry quality issues.
• Drive root-cause analysis, corrective and preventive actions, risk assessment, material disposition, and effectiveness verification.
• Use SPC, yield analysis, structured problem-solving, and Best Known Method deployment to improve process robustness and prevent recurrence.

Change, Qualification, and Manufacturing Readiness

• Coordinate foundry changes involving process, material, equipment, site, or supply chain, including CAB and supplier PCN activities.
• Partner with Engineering, Quality, Reliability, Product, Supply Chain, Procurement, and Business Units to support qualification, transfer, NPI ramp, and production readiness.
• Ensure implementation plans include risk assessment, material control, production cut-in, contingency, and required approvals.

Supplier Governance and Leadership

• Lead complex, business-critical supplier issues and cross-functional task forces across multiple programs or foundry relationships.
• Influence supplier priorities and internal decisions through clear technical judgment, risk-based recommendations, and executive communication.
• Support supplier qualification, audits, compliance reviews, cost-improvement initiatives, and foundry operational strategy.
• Provide technical and operational guidance to team members and share scalable methods and best practices as needs arise.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or above in Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, or a related technical discipline; an advanced degree is preferred.
• Substantial experience in semiconductor wafer fabrication, foundry operations, process integration, manufacturing engineering, product engineering, or supplier management.
• Demonstrated ownership of external foundry performance and complex manufacturing issues in a high-volume production environment.
• Strong knowledge of semiconductor fabrication, production control, yield management, quality systems, capacity planning, SPC, and structured problem-solving.
• Proven ability to lead multiple projects, resolve ambiguous cross-functional issues, and influence supplier and senior stakeholders without direct authority.
• Excellent analytical, project-management, negotiation, communication, and English presentation skills.
• Ability to travel within Asia based on business needs.

• Experience across multiple foundries or technology platforms such as BCD, analog, power discrete, GaN, CIS, logic, or mixed signal.
• Experience with supplier audits, manufacturing transfer, qualification, NPI ramp, CAB, supplier PCN, product release, and automotive semiconductor requirements.
• Experience using manufacturing data and statistical tools to drive yield, quality, process robustness, capacity, and cost improvement.