Material handler Jobs in Austin, TX

Director Of Material Technology

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.

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Position Summary

Samsung Austin Semiconductor is seeking a Director of Material Technology to lead the site's supplier and raw material quality organization supporting high-volume semiconductor manufacturing. The Director is the site-level authority for raw material quality and supplier technical performance across a broad portfolio of direct materials, including bulk and specialty gases, bulk and specialty chemicals, slurries, pads, precursors, targets, wafers, and photo-related materials.This leader directs a multidisciplinary organization of engineers and technicians and works closely with Manufacturing, Process Engineering, Purchasing, Logistics, Quality, the onsite analytical laboratory, Samsung Korea, and a global supplier base. The role protects manufacturing from material-related quality risk while enabling new technology introduction, supply-chain resilience, localization, and cost reduction.

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