RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available

CLEARANCE TYPE: Polygraph

TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time

Description

At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history.

The Microelectronics, Design, and Applications (MDA) business area within the Northrop Grumman Microelectronics Center (NGMC) is a highly motivated, talented, and growing organization focused on advancing the science and engineering of superconducting electronic systems into new capabilities and products. The MDA is developing technologies to transform computing beyond Moore’s Law by advancing development of computer architectures, processing and memory subsystems, and large-scale, high-performance computing systems.

The business area is seeking a physicist with extensive experience in microelectronic integrated circuit technology development and process control monitoring, with a particular emphasis on the characterization and improvement of fabrication component yield and parametric performance. The physicist will leverage both room-temperature and low-temperature electrical test data obtained at the wafer and die level in order to characterize and obtain new insights into superconducting device performance across multiple fabrication process flows. The physicist will employ a wide variety of analysis and statistical process control (SPC) techniques to study functional and parametric yield, historical trends, and random and systematic across-chip and across-wafer variation. This analysis will be leveraged by the physicist to validate physical models, drive fabrication process improvements and re-centering efforts, and inform wafer and site selection for functional circuit testing. 

This position requires work on site located at our Advanced Technology Lab (ATL) in Linthicum, Maryland and/or Annapolis Junction, MD.

Your responsibilities:

• Broadly responsible for ensuring that fabrication process module yield and parametric performance meet short-term and long-term functional circuit requirements
• Coordinate with fabrication and design staff to identify and implement suitable process control monitor (PCM) test structures
• Analyze PCM data to drive fabrication process line centering and enable technology development activities
• Characterize process module yield and performance by studying room-temperature and low-temperature data to gain insights into targeting, spreads, and electrical behavior
• Leverage your knowledge of solid state materials and device physics to effectively interpret test results in the context of fabrication yield and theoretical device performance
• Collaborate with physical design kit (PDK) and design staff to develop and verify device models that are consistent with experimental data and that meet design specs
• Interface with PDK, design, and foundry staff to support the setting and refinement of design rules
• Work closely with test personnel to develop and refine PCM test and analysis methodologies
• Report results in written and verbal presentations to a wide array of key stakeholders from fabrication, design, PDK, test, failure analysis, management, and customers
• Problem-solving and team skills:
  • Solves complex problems; takes a new perspective on existing solutions.
  • Excellent team player with collaborative behavior.
  • Strong skills in troubleshooting and diagnosing problems.
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Basic Qualifications:

• PhD in STEM-related field and 9 years of related professional experience; Masters degree and 12 years of professional experience; Bachelor's degree and 14 years of related professional experience.
• This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI with polygraph clearance per business requirements (US Citizenship is a prerequisite).
• Experience working in microelectronics research and development as a process integrator, product engineer, yield engineer, or physicist
• Understands the microelectronics lifecycle process and has a working knowledge of solid-state materials and device physics
• Experience in data analysis to support statistical process control (SPC) and technology development activities
• Limited travel to local Northrop Grumman facilities may be required.

Preferred Qualifications:

• PhD in a STEM discipline (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)
• Experience working in superconducting microelectronics research and development as a process integrator, product engineer, yield engineer, or physicist
• Strong knowledge and expertise in superconducting materials and device physics, including Josephson junctions or other tunnel junction devices
• Adept at working with and analyzing large volumes of data using one or more of the following: JMP, SAS, Minitab, MATLAB, or Python
• Experience with integrated circuit CAD tools
• Experience with simulating materials and device performance and process spreads using one or more of the following: Monte Carlo techniques, 3D fine element modeling, or analytical methods
• Active TS/SCI with polygraph

Salary Range: $190,500.00 - $285,700.00

The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.

Employees may be eligible for a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.

The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.

Northrop Grumman is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO/AA and Pay Transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.