Process Development Lead Engineer

Job Title: Process Development Lead Engineer

Company: Phlux Technology Ltd

Location: Sheffield, UK (on-site, 4-5 days/week)

Type: Full-Time

Reports to: Director of Technology

The Company:

Phlux is an award-winning tech start-up based in Sheffield, UK. The company is a Fabless Photonics III-V Chip Company founded in 2020 as a spin-out from the University of Sheffield. Phlux designs and supplies the world’s highest performing SWIR detectors and receivers based on our groundbreaking material development that will be at the heart of advanced driver safety features using LIDAR, ultra-fast low latency communication networks, and seeing the invisible with 3D imaging.

Phlux is a revenue-generating company with a team of 26 skilled professionals spanning operations, sales and marketing, engineering, semiconductor devices, and finance. Following a £9M Series A funding round Phlux is now scaling rapidly and seeking passionate individuals to join our innovative team.

The Role:

We are seeking a proactive and resourceful Process Development Lead Engineer to develop, optimise and industrialise Phlux's III-V semiconductor technologies. This role offers the opportunity to support scale-up of our existing products while supporting the development of new product range from R&D to mass production. You will be a key technical interface between our external foundries and internal R&D and Operations teams, translating device requirements into repeatable, manufacturable processes.

This role suits an engineer with practical semiconductor processing experience who wants to broaden their expertise across fabrication processes, technologies and international foundry partners. You will take ownership of technical challenges, use experimental evidence to guide decisions and help move new device concepts from R&D into scalable manufacturing.

Responsibilities:

• Lead and coordinate the development and optimisation of III-V fabrication processes with external foundries, translating R&D requirements into practical process specifications.

• Plan and coordinate experiments, including Design of Experiments (DoE), to improve device performance, process stability and manufacturability.

• Act as a primary technical contact for foundries, coordinating technical reviews, development actions and milestones; assess capabilities and support qualification of new partners.

• Investigate process, device performance and yield issues, establish root causes and work with partners to implement and verify corrective actions.

• Work with device design, epitaxy and characterisation teams to assess process interactions and variation, support design for manufacturability and inform technology development.

• Evaluate process limitations, materials and alternative fabrication routes, constructively challenging assumptions and proposing solutions within practical manufacturing constraints.

• Support Operations with process integration, qualification and transfer to manufacturing, defining critical parameters, process windows, acceptance criteria and controls.

• Maintain clear experimental records, process documentation and risk assessments; support change control and improvements in reproducibility, reliability, yield and cost.

Requirements:

Essential

• Degree in Semiconductor Engineering, Materials Science, Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Physics or a related discipline.

• Hands-on experience in III-V semiconductor fabrication or process development in an industrial, foundry or research environment.

• Good understanding of relevant fabrication techniques, such as lithography, wet/dry etching, dielectric deposition, metallisation and passivation.

• Experience developing, optimising or troubleshooting processes, analysing experimental data and applying structured problem-solving.

• Understanding of how material properties, process conditions and variation affect device performance and manufacturability.

• Initiative, practical engineering judgement and ownership of technical delivery, with the ability to work independently as requirements evolve.

• Clear technical communication and effective collaboration across disciplines, including the ability to challenge assumptions constructively.

• Willingness to travel occasionally within the UK and internationally to work with foundry and technology partners.

Desirable

• Experience with III-V materials, or optoelectronic devices such as photodiodes, avalanche photodiodes or lasers.

• Exposure to integrated process flows, epitaxy, metrology, DoE, statistical process control or process-related failure analysis.

• Experience with external foundries, technology transfer, manufacturing qualification, reliability, design for manufacturability or process change control.

We do not expect experience in every desirable area. Strong processing fundamentals, curiosity and the motivation to broaden your expertise matter most.

Success in the Role (First 12 Months):

After 12 months, you will have:

• Established effective working relationships with key foundry partners and a shared development plan with clear milestones, actions and technical risks.

• Support the scale-up of existing products with documented evidence of improvements in device yield, process repeatability and reliability.

• Resolved priority process or yield issues through root-cause analysis and verified corrective actions, sharing the findings across relevant teams.

• Supported the launch of the new product range by delivering agreed process development, qualification and technology transfer milestones.

• Defined and documented critical process parameters, operating windows, acceptance criteria and control requirements for priority process developments.

• Progressed agreed qualification and technology transfer activities with Operations, with documented manufacturing readiness and clear actions for remaining risks.

Benefits:

• Competitive salary based on experience.

• Share options with tax efficient EMI stock options - Own a part of the company.

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holiday.

• 5% employer contribution to pension scheme.

• Relocation package.

• Exciting and dynamic work environment as part of a growing start-up.

• A personal training budget to support professional development.

• Medical benefits

• Recruiting referral bonus scheme.

Hours of Work:

We work 37.5 hours a week, Monday - Friday.

The candidate will be required to be on-site for a minimum of 4 days per week at our offices and lab in Sheffield.