Principal Controls Engineer

Position Summary

As principal controls engineer you’ll be responsible for mechatronics controls in our MBX electron-beam lithography systems. 

Key focus is on wafer positioning and sensing in order to optimally control the relative position between electron beam and wafer point of interest. This includes the overall (and sometimes unwanted) dynamics that ensure high fidelity path planning and following. 

Our roadmap leads us to higher performance in both feature placement accuracy and throughput and this position will be a key contributor to improving our current implementation as well as devising next generation technology.

What You'll Do

• Servo controls tuning and tracking optimization of all moving axis. 
• Correlating system performance with the dynamics of system and external components and disturbances 
• Evaluate all sensing modalities as part of wafer control and investigate higher performance solutions 
• Motion control programming and integration with system software 
• Collaborate with team members, other engineering disciplines in the organization and key suppliers 
• Participate in customer facing demonstrations that require performance enhancements 

Why This is Exciting

• Build and scale groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind technology that’s redefining the industry. 
• Join a small, high-ownership team where your work is visible and your ideas move fast. 
• Help enable new markets such as quantum computing, next-generation advanced packaging and high-speed photonics. 
• Ship real capability — measurable performance and productivity with real-world impact. 

What You Bring 

You’re hands-on, take pride in quality and on-time delivery, and thrive when priorities move quickly. You take ownership from start to finish and work well across teams to get things done. 

Requirements 

Experience & Technical Skills 

• +10 years experience in mechatronics and nanometer and nanoradian positioning systems 
• Servo controls tuning and optimization 
• Programming of 3rd party motion controllers 
• Dynamics of complex systems,multi-physics engineering 

Professional Skills 

• Clear written and verbal communicator who partners well across engineering, operations and suppliers. 
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to juggle many priorities at once. 
• Self-directed, flexible and able to thrive in a fast-paced, evolving environment. 
• Strong computer skills; experience using AI assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot to streamline work is a plus. 

Education 

• Master’s or PhD in a controls dominant field or a related, equivalent experience. 

Nice to Have 

• Team management skills 
• Experience in cleanroom environments. 
• Experience in Semiconductor Capital Equipment and chip making or packaging processes. 

This position may involve access to technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. Any job offer made will be contingent upon the applicant’s capacity to serve in compliance with U.S. export controls.

Multibeam Corporation is a leading high productivity electron-beam technology innovator in wafer fab equipment. Our technology will revolutionize the industry with maskless, full-wafer patterning capabilities. Our multi-column direct write system pushes what is possible by enabling rapid prototyping to volume production with maskless lithography flexibility.

At the heart of Multibeam technology is an array of miniature e-beam columns that provide a maskless and high-throughput platform for writing nanoscale IC patterns seamlessly across full wafers. This solves key limitations widely recognized with e-beam lithography, transforming it from a mere R&D curiosity to an incredible fab tool for production. With MEBL systems, device makers can save on lithography costs, safeguard the IC supply chain, and revolutionize microelectronics manufacturing.

We believe the key to our success are our people. Our best employees love what they do and bring unique backgrounds to our fast-paced, highly collaborative environment. We are managed by some of the brightest in Silicon Valley, including Dr. David K. Lam, founder and prior CEO of Lam Research. The ideal candidate is independent, flexible, and enjoys working in a fast-paced and creative technical environment.