Director, Process Productivity

The Director of Process Development is responsible for driving end‑to‑end process productivity, operational efficiency, and scalable process engineering for a key product group within ASM’s Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) technology. This leader will optimize how work flows across people, process, and technology to accelerate delivery, reduce variability, and strengthen ASM’s ability to bring high‑value products to market faster and more predictably.

Success in this role requires a leader who excels in process optimization, organizational effectiveness, continuous improvement methodologies, and cross-functional alignment, in addition to strong technical expertise in R&D, product development, and design for manufacturability. The ideal candidate brings a disciplined approach to Product Life Cycle (PLC) execution, enabling the team to meet or exceed productivity, cost, quality, and schedule targets.

This position plays a critical role in increasing ASM’s operational throughput, collaborating with customers to rapidly resolve high-value issues, and building a world‑class, productivity‑centric process engineering organization.

Specific Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operations of process engineering teams with a strong focus on productivity, throughput, and measurable performance outcomes.


• Define, standardize, and scale ASM development processes to improve cross-team efficiency, reduce waste, and drive consistent execution globally.


• Partner with the KPU Head to develop a technology vision and roadmap that aligns with productivity goals and long‑term operational scalability.


• Embed ASM’s mission and values through daily actions while cultivating a high‑performance, continuous‑improvement culture.


• Deliver the technology roadmap and product roadmap while ensuring processes enable predictable, on-time delivery of capabilities.


• Lead PLC execution, ensuring process rigor, milestone adherence, and efficient development of next‑generation systems.


• Manage development performance across cost, schedule, quality, and productivity metrics.


• Support existing products while driving structured continuous improvement initiatives that increase output, reduce cycle time, and improve yield.


• Work cross‑functionally with hardware, software, and operations engineering to define success criteria and ensure aligned, efficient new product development.


• Build and maintain strong customer relationships to translate customer needs into efficient, scalable processes, ensuring fast qualification of new products and technologies.


• Collaborate with Product Marketing and customers to contribute to the future product and process roadmap.


• Support annual strategic planning with a focus on process scalability, capability maturity, and productivity improvements.


• Recruit, develop, and retain top engineering talent, with emphasis on building a high‑efficiency, high‑execution process engineering team.


• Preferred expertise in device‑relevant areas (e.g., work function, electrodes, silicides, wordlines, FEOL/BEOL metals).

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, Mechanical Engineering, or related field required; PhD preferred.


• 12+ years of semiconductor equipment development experience (ALD preferred).


• Demonstrated success delivering semiconductor equipment products ahead of schedule and under cost targets.


• Proven leadership of process engineering teams >10, with experience developing process engineering managers.


• Experience building and scaling high‑performance teams.


• Strong background in driving continuous improvement and operational excellence.

Personal & Professional Attributes

• High‑energy self‑starter committed to productivity, efficiency, and operational discipline.


• Strong change agent with a bias for action and measurable results.


• Strategic thinker with exceptional execution capability.


• Persistent, detail‑driven leader who ensures roadblocks are addressed quickly and decisively.


• Excellent problem‑solver with natural clarity in communication and prioritization.


• Effective multicultural leader with strong collaboration and team‑building skills.


• Ability to inspire, coach, and grow technical talent.


• Strong interpersonal, organizational, and cross-functional influencing skills.