Double Sided Polishing Development Engineer

About the role

The Double Sided Polishing Development Engineer is a Process Development Manager role responsible for developing and optimizing double-sided polishing processes for optical glass and equivalent brittle materials. This position involves planning process and technology roadmaps, developing polishing processes from concept through production qualification, providing technical support to customers and internal stakeholders, and supervising assigned technicians and project team members.

Key responsibilities

• Prepare process and technology roadmap for double-sided polishing of optical glass and equivalent brittle material applications; plan and coordinate development goals with development, production, product management, sales, quality, suppliers and customers
• Develop double-sided polishing processes from the ground up, including process concept, machine platform selection, polishing configuration, carrier/pad/slurry systems, tooling, handling, inspection methods and control plans
• Define process windows, critical parameters and quality criteria to achieve flatness (TTV, Bow/Warp), surface finish (Ra), edge quality, low defect levels and productivity/cost targets
• Qualify machines and processes through structured trials, DOE, capability studies and production validation
• Optimize existing polishing processes under consideration of Lean Management principles and transfer qualified technologies into production
• Serve as point of contact for rendering technical scientific advice and timely support to customers, sales offices and internal stakeholders for technical questions referring to products, process capability, product development, applications and quality performance
• Prepare competition analysis including benchmarking of double-sided polishing technologies and machine concepts
• Coordinate assigned technicians, operators, suppliers or project team members within the area of responsibility; provide technical guidance, training and knowledge transfer
• Ensure adherence to and monitoring of legal laws and internal regulations concerning IMSU/EHS in area of responsibility
• Develop concepts for safe polishing processing, machine guarding, interlock systems, exhaust, slurry/chemical handling and maintenance

About you

• University Degree in Engineering, Physics, Material Science, Manufacturing Engineering, or equivalent technical field
• Good command of English; proficient in MS Office
• Working knowledge of GD&T, mechanical drawing interpretation, DOE, SPC, process capability studies, and quality tools
• Minimum 3 years in double-sided polishing, precision lapping, CMP, or fine grinding of brittle materials (e.g., optical glass, ceramics, sapphire, silicon, SiC or compound semiconductors)
• Proven ability to develop, optimize, and stabilize polishing processes to consistently achieve demanding flatness (TTV, Bow/Warp) and surface finish (Ra) targets
• Demonstrated competency in balancing material removal rate with surface quality and yield in a high-precision manufacturing environment
• Hands-on experience with carrier plates, pad conditioning, and slurry/pad management; familiarity with Kemet, Peter Wolters, Lapmaster, Strasbaugh, SpeedFam, Logitech, or equivalent double-sided polishing machines is preferred
• Solid track record in defect reduction (scratches, pits, haze, edge chipping) and root-cause analysis of polishing non-uniformity
• Familiarity with interferometers, AFM, profilometers, and optical inspection tools for process monitoring and QA
• Experience in machine/process qualification, preventative maintenance, and troubleshooting related to polishing equipment, carrier plate alignment, and slurry filtration

About us

SCHOTT is the employer for this position.