Supplier/Vendor QA Engineer (Fabrication&Machining)

The group you’ll be a part of

This position is part of the Supplier Engineering and Technology (SET) organization, which advances manufacturing technology, materials, and supply chain capability. 

The impact you’ll make

As a Supplier Engineer, you will play a critical role in developing and managing suppliers of complex metal components and assemblies, with primary focus on semiconductor showerheads and pedestals.
You will work cross-functionally with product engineering, design engineering, quality, operations, and suppliers to resolve technical, quality, and production challenges. The role requires strong hands-on knowledge of fabrication, precision machining, joining, assembly, metallurgy, metrology, and process control for high-complexity metal parts.
The ideal candidate is a results-driven self-starter with strong technical judgment, structured problem-solving skills, and a customer-focused mindset. This individual must be able to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment and work effectively both independently and across global teams.

What you’ll do

• Work with supplier to design engineering to provide Design for Manufacturability, Assembly, and Cost input for showerheads, pedestals, and related components.
• Provide technical expertise for complex metal components and assemblies, including precision CNC machining, milling, turning, drilling, grinding, and specialty finishing processes.
• Provide expertise in metal joining and assembly processes, including aluminum brazing, vacuum brazing, welding, diffusion bonding, mechanical fastening, sealing interfaces, etc. as applicable.
• Assess product drawings, specifications, tolerances, GD&T, material requirements, inspection and assembly interfaces to ensure supplier processes can repeatedly meet design intent.
• Develop, qualify, and improve supplier manufacturing process flows for complex metal parts and assemblies, from raw material through machining, joining, cleaning, inspection, and final assembly.
• Work with supplier to identify and control critical process inputs and outputs, special processes, and process-of-record requirements that affect product performance, reliability, and yield.
• Lead technical reviews of tooling, fixturing, joining parameters, machining strategy, thermal distortion, flatness, hole pattern capability, surface finish, dimensional stack-up, and assembly alignment
• Develop, document, and execute qualification plans, including first article inspection, capability studies, destructive and nondestructive evaluation, leak testing, dimensional inspection, and functional validation.
• Lead root cause and corrective action for quality and supplier technical issues using structured problem-solving methods. Translate failure evidence into containment, corrective action, and prevention.
• Drive supplier improvements in quality, manufacturability, cost, and capacity while maintaining product requirements.
• Audits suppliers on site focused on manufacturing controls, special processes, inspection systems, quality management systems, and adherence to approved process of record (POR).Develop Best Known Methods, control plans, inspection strategies, and supplier quality scorecards to improve repeatability and reduce variation.
• Lead high-visibility technical projects and remain accountable for scope, milestones, risks, decisions, and closure.
• Evaluate new fabrication, joining, inspection, and automation technologies that can improve product performance, capability, or manufacturing robustness.

Who we’re looking for

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Welding Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, or a related technical field from an accredited university is required.
• Master's degree in a related engineering discipline is preferred.
• Relevant technical experience in complex metal fabrication and assemblies may be considered together with education, consistent with company job-level requirements.
• 10+ year of experience in related industry
• Strong knowledge of complex metal-part fabrication and assembly; preferably in field of semiconductor, aerospace, vacuum, medical, or other high-precision industries.
• Strong knowledge of CNC machining (4-axis and 5-axis milling and lathe turning) and the relationship between tooling, tool holding, fixturing, cutting parameters, material condition, heat input, distortion, surface finish, and dimensional capability.
• Solid knowledge of metal joining processes, especially aluminum welding (EBW, FSW, RFW, and TIG) brazing, and diffusion bonding; including joint design, joint preparation, filler selection, thermal cycle, defect mechanisms, and inspection with specific focus in AWS industry standards
• Strong understanding of engineering drawings, GD&T, tolerance stack-up, datum strategy, metrology, and measurement-system capability with specific focus on ANSI Y14.5 and other related industry standards
• Working knowledge of aluminum metallurgy, material tempers, heat treatment, residual stress, corrosion, and failure mechanisms relevant to precision component with specific focus in ASTM and AMS industry standards
• Experience developing, qualifying, and documenting supplier processes, including process mapping, PFMEA risk assessment, control plans, first article inspection, and process capability analysis using SPC and other basic statistical analysis
• Demonstrated ability to lead and document failure analysis and structured root cause investigations using standard quality tools ( e.g. DMAIC principles, PDCA cycle, 5-Whys, Ishikawa (fishbone) diagrams, 5-M + E evaluation, etc. ).
• Experience working directly with manufacturers on process development, quality improvement, and production readiness to support product design intent
• Ability to communicate technical issues using both written and verbal clearly to other engineering teams, operations, suppliers, and leadership.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally.

Preferred qualifications

• Direct experience with semiconductor showerheads, gas-distribution components, pedestals, baseplate, electrostatic chuck-related assemblies, vacuum hardware, or thermally controlled metal assemblies.
• Experience with aluminum vacuum brazing, welded or bonded cooling channels, embedded features, multi-zone assemblies, helium or pressure-decay leak testing, and flow verification.
• Knowledge of cleaning, anodizing, plating, coating, passivation, surface preparation, and contamination control for semiconductor components.
• Experience with CMM, optical metrology, profilometry, surface roughness measurement, CT/X-ray, ultrasonic inspection, dye penetrant, radiography, or metallographic cross-section analysis.
• Familiarity with design reviews, manufacturing readiness reviews, 8D, fault tree, and logic-tree analysis.
• CWI certification
• Experience leading cross-functional projects and working with global suppliers and customers.
• Experience in new product introduction and transfer from development into high-volume manufacturing.
• Experience in industry Management System standards and audits; ISO 9001, AS9100, ISO14001, ISO27001, etc
• Approximately 10 or more years of relevant experience in complex metal fabrication, manufacturing engineering, supplier engineering, quality engineering, or product engineering.

Our commitment

We believe it is important for every person to feel valued, included, and empowered to achieve their full potential. By bringing unique individuals and viewpoints together, we achieve extraordinary results.

Lam Research ("Lam" or the "Company") is an equal opportunity employer. Lam is committed to and reaffirms support of equal opportunity in employment and non-discrimination in employment policies, practices and procedures on the basis of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions), gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status or any other category protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. It is the Company's intention to comply with all applicable laws and regulations. Company policy prohibits unlawful discrimination against applicants or employees.

Lam offers a variety of work location models based on the needs of each role. Our hybrid roles combine the benefits of on-site collaboration with colleagues and the flexibility to work remotely and fall into two categories – On-site Flex and Virtual Flex. ‘On-site Flex’ you’ll work 3+ days per week on-site at a Lam or customer/supplier location, with the opportunity to work remotely for the balance of the week. ‘Virtual Flex’ you’ll work 1-2 days per week on-site at a Lam or customer/supplier location, and remotely the rest of the time.