Material Technology Director

About Samsung Austin Semiconductor
Samsung is a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, founded on the belief that the pursuit of excellence creates a better world. At Samsung Austin Semiconductor, we are Innovating Today to Power the Devices of Tomorrow. 

Come innovate with us!

Position Summary

Role and Responsibilities

Here’s What You’ll Be Responsible For:

Material Quality Strategy & Governance

• Establish and execute the site strategy for raw material and supplier quality supporting current and future semiconductor technologies.
• Own the governance framework, policies, decision rights, and escalation pathways for qualification, specifications, supplier change control, incoming quality, and material disposition.
• Develop long-term technical roadmaps aligned with future technology nodes, capacity expansion, and supply-chain strategy.
• Identify emerging material and supplier risks and ensure mitigation plans are in place before manufacturing impact.

Supplier Qualification, Performance & Development

• Direct the end-to-end qualification strategy for new materials, new suppliers, alternate sources, and new supplier manufacturing locations.
• Oversee supplier lifecycle management from qualification through performance monitoring, development, requalification, escalation, and phase-out.
• Establish risk-based supplier segmentation to set surveillance, audit, and development requirements.
• Establish supplier scorecards and KPIs, and lead executive quality reviews for strategic or underperforming suppliers.
• Develop supplier capability roadmaps and improvement plans to reduce material variability and meet future technology requirements.
• Lead quality-matching activities to ensure consistent material performance across supplier manufacturing locations and alignment with Samsung Korea.

Specifications & Supplier Change Management

• Own raw material specifications, critical quality attributes, acceptance criteria, sampling requirements, and test methods, ensuring they evolve with process sensitivity and technology-node requirements.
• Direct technical evaluation of supplier Certificates of Analysis and define requirements for supplier statistical control of critical parameters.
• Own governance of supplier changes, including process, raw material, site, equipment, packaging, and formulation changes, and ensure PCNs are reviewed for manufacturing and reliability risk.
• Establish risk-based qualification requirements for supplier changes and approve or delegate approval authority accordingly.

Non-Conforming Material & Disposition Authority

• Establish and maintain the site process for containment, evaluation, and disposition of non-conforming raw materials.
• Serve as senior escalation authority for high-risk decisions involving hold, release, use-as-is, deviation, return, replacement, or scrap.
• Ensure disposition decisions weigh manufacturing risk, process sensitivity, inventory position, and supply continuity, with appropriate traceability and documentation.

Supplier Audit Program

• Direct the global audit and surveillance program for critical raw material suppliers, with audit strategy based on material criticality, performance, and business risk.
• Ensure assessments cover quality systems, manufacturing and contamination controls, change management, traceability, SPC, and business continuity against ISO 9001, IATF 16949, and Samsung requirements.
• Determine supplier qualification status based on audit findings and ensure corrective actions are verified for effectiveness.

Incoming Material Quality & Excursion Prevention

• Establish the strategy for incoming material verification based on material criticality, supplier capability, historical performance, and process sensitivity.
• Partner with the onsite analytical laboratory on testing requirements, sampling strategies, and method development capable of detecting contamination at levels appropriate for advanced semiconductor manufacturing.
• Establish statistical monitoring of supplier CoA data, incoming test results, and material trends, with defined escalation and containment thresholds, to identify drift before it impacts manufacturing.
• Ensure correlation between supplier data, onsite laboratory results, and manufacturing performance, and use this data to drive supplier management decisions.

Root Cause Analysis & Corrective Action

• Provide executive oversight for significant material-related excursions and supplier quality events.
• Ensure rigorous root cause analysis using structured methodologies such as 8D, 5-Why, fishbone, and fault-tree analysis.
• Drive containment, corrective and preventive action, and verification of effectiveness, ensuring supplier actions address systemic causes.
• Maintain CAPA governance and deploy lessons learned across materials, suppliers, and manufacturing organizations.

Supply Continuity & Cost Optimization

• Identify single-source, geographic, capacity, logistics, and supplier business-continuity risks, and establish contingency strategies for critical materials.
• Direct qualification of alternate materials, suppliers, manufacturing locations, and bridge specifications to reduce supply risk.
• Partner with Purchasing and Logistics to manage material risk during shortages and supply-chain disruptions.
• Partner with Purchasing on sourcing strategies, supplier localization, and technical cost reduction, ensuring cost initiatives undergo appropriate qualification and risk evaluation.

New Technology Introduction & Fab Readiness

• Lead raw material readiness for new technologies, product introductions, capacity expansions, and Fab startup activities.
• Ensure new material requirements are identified early enough to support technology qualification schedules.
• Ensure supplier capacity, quality systems, analytical capability, packaging, transportation, and import requirements are ready ahead of production ramp.
• Support technology transfer and material matching between Samsung manufacturing operations.

Organizational Leadership & Cross-Functional Partnership

• Lead a multidisciplinary organization of engineers and technicians, establishing organizational structure, staffing strategy, KPIs, and succession plans.
• Recruit, develop, and retain technical talent; coach managers and technical experts and build training programs that strengthen organizational capability.
• Promote a culture of ownership, technical rigor, continuous improvement, and disciplined decision-making.
• Represent Material Technology in site-level discussions and provide senior leadership with clear assessments of material quality, supplier risk, and supply continuity.
• Serve as the senior technical interface with strategic suppliers and represent the site with Samsung Korea on material quality and technology matters.
• Resolve cross-functional issues where material quality, manufacturing priorities, supply constraints, and commercial considerations intersect.

Skills and Qualifications

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related technical discipline.
• 15+ years of experience in semiconductor manufacturing, including significant experience in supplier quality, materials engineering, process engineering, or related technical functions.
• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience, including responsibility for technical teams, managers, or organizations.
• Demonstrated experience with supplier qualification and development, material specifications, supplier change management, and non-conforming material disposition in a high-volume manufacturing environment.
• Strong knowledge of SPC, process capability, root cause analysis, and structured problem-solving methodologies.
• Experience managing senior-level supplier relationships and resolving complex quality, technical, and supply issues.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate technical risk, business impact, and recommendations to executive leadership.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s degree or Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related technical discipline.
• Experience with advanced-node semiconductor manufacturing, greenfield Fab startup, major expansion, or technology transfer.
• Direct experience with semiconductor raw materials and the analytical methods used for trace contamination and high-purity material characterization.
• Experience leading global supplier qualification and audit programs; lead auditor certification or equivalent.
• Working knowledge of ISO 9001, IATF 16949, or comparable quality management systems.

The current base salary range for this role is between $217,000 - $281,500. Individual base pay rates will depend on factors including duties, work location, education, skills, qualifications and experience. Total compensation for this position will include a competitive benefits package and may include participation in company incentive compensation programs, which are based on factors to include organizational and individual performance.

Total Rewards
At Samsung Austin Semiconductor, base pay is just one part of our total compensation package. The base compensation for this role will depend on education, experience, skills, and location.

We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Life insurance and 401(k) matching with immediate vesting
• Onsite café(s) and workout facilities
• Paid maternity and paternity leave
• Paid time off (PTO) + 2 personal holidays and 10 regular holidays
• Wellness incentives and MORE
   

Eligible full-time employees (salaried or hourly) may also receive MBO bonuses based on company, division, and individual performance.

All positions at Samsung Austin Semiconductor are full-time on-site.

Trade Secrets
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