Customer Quality Engineer

SkyWater is hiring a Senior Customer Quality Assurance Engineer to join our dynamic team to support wafer services in Austin, TX.  This role will serve as the primary Quality interface between SkyWater and our customers, ensuring product quality, reliability, and customer satisfaction throughout the manufacturing lifecycle. This role drives effective problem resolution, supports continuous improvement initiatives, and ensures compliance with customer, regulatory, and industry quality standards. The ideal candidate will have customer quality engineering experience in the semiconductor industry.

Major Areas of Accountability:

Customer Quality Management

• Serve as the internal and external customer-facing quality representative, working with customers to address inquiries, requests, quality concerns and more.
• Build strong customer relationships through responsive communication, technical expertise, and timely issue resolution.
• Support customer QBRs.
• Lead customer-facing corrective action activities, including 8D responses, root cause investigations, and containment actions.
• Ensure customer expectations and contractual quality requirements are consistently met.

Problem Solving & Root Cause Analysis

• Investigate and determine source of potential defects related to wafer fabrication processes, technology transfers, product development, manufacturing excursions or FARs.
• Implement effective structured problem-solving techniques, 8D corrective and preventive actions (CAPA).
• Utilize structured problem-solving methodologies, including 5-Why, Fishbone, FMEA, SPC, DOE, and statistical analysis techniques.
• Work cross-functionally with manufacturing, process engineering, yield engineering, reliability, and operations teams to resolve customer-related issues.

Manufacturing & Process Quality Support

• Support nonconforming material review and disposition activities.
• Participate in process change reviews and assess customer quality impacts.
• Support transfer and development activities for customer processes within the fab.

Quality Systems & Compliance

• Support and maintain compliance with quality management systems and standards: ISO 9001 and IATF 16949.
• Participate in internal audits, customer audits, and external certification audits.
• Maintain accountability for assigned procedures, quality documentation, and records.
• Support risk management activities and implementation of quality system improvements.

Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Develop and communicate customer quality metrics, scorecards, trend analyses, and status reports.
• Ensure the top Pareto Analysis items of our customer-facing metrics have activity to improve/reduce.
• Lead cross-functional quality improvement initiatives.

Required Qualifications:

• BS in a STEM discipline or equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.
• 5+ years of quality engineering, including customer quality experience.
• Working knowledge of semiconductor wafer fabrication processes, preferably in a 200mm or 300mm fab environment.
• Understanding of quality standards: ISO 9001, IATF 16949.
• Experience with SPC, DOE, MSA, FMEA, CAPA, and statistical analysis methodologies.
• Understanding of risk management principles and implementation of effective corrective actions.
• Experience auditing manufacturing quality processes.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and statistical/data analysis software such as JMP, Minitab, or equivalent.
• U.S. Person Required: This position requires compliance with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). All accepted applicants must be U.S. Persons. ITAR defines a U.S. Person as U.S. citizen, U.S. Permanent Resident, Political Asylee, or Refugee. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in semiconductor foundry, specialty semiconductor, MEMS, mixed-signal, photonics. 
• Knowledge of semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment and manufacturing systems.
• Certified auditor to one or more applicable standards (ISO 9001, IATF 16949).
• ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), Six Sigma certification, or equivalent quality certification.
• AIAG FMEA knowledge and application experience.
• Experience reviewing customer quality requirements and contracts.
• PMP certification or formal project management experience.