Application Engineering Director
Diamond Foundry · Bay Area, CA
- Level
- Director+
- Team
- Manufacturing
- Degree
- Preferred
- Experience asked
- 10+ years
- Industry
- Industrial
- Posted
- 7 days ago
The role in 30 seconds
A director-level manufacturing role at Diamond Foundry (industrial) in Bay Area, CA. Lead and grow the application engineering function, setting the technical direction for bonding single-crystal diamond to customer devices in advanced packaging and thermal management applications.
- They ask for
- 10+ years · degree preferred
- Tools it names
- DOE, Validation (IQ/OQ/PQ), Casting
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
From the plant jobs report · week of November 2, 2026
Manufacturing Engineer roles in California: typical posted base $112k–$168k.
Median of the low and high ends of 147 live postings that list pay, out of 388 manufacturing engineer openings in California, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.
California plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →
How this role compares
Against 387 other live manufacturing postings in California.
- Base pay
- Not listed in this posting
- Experience asked
- More than usual (10+ vs 5+)
Typical $110k–$157k, from 127 postings that list pay.
Similar roles usually ask 5+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- Tooling 52%
- New product launch 47%
- Root cause 38%
- Automation 35%
- CATIA / NX 27%
- Machining 27%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
Stands out: this posting asks for DOE, Casting, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.
At a glance
Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.
How to get in at this plant
Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.
- 1
Pick 2–3 people on the Manufacturing team at Diamond Foundry
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
- 2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
- 3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Is the work mostly new product launches or sustaining existing lines?
- How much time do you spend on the floor versus at a desk?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
- 4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
- 5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.
This plant: Diamond Foundry in Bay Area
3 other open roles at this site.
- Materials Process Engineer · Process
- Principal Laser Process Engineer · Process · Senior
- Production Technician (Graveyard) · Production · Technician
Full description from Diamond FoundryAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
Responsibilities
- ◆Lead and grow the application engineering function, setting the technical direction for bonding single-crystal diamond to customer devices in advanced packaging and thermal management applications.
- ◆Own the bonding technology strategy, including how we evaluate, select, and optimize pressure and pressureless sintering, thermocompression, surface/plasma-activated, hybrid, and emerging bonding methods across different device designs and material stacks.
- ◆Direct process development and validation, including surface preparation, metallization, DOE-based optimization, characterization, failure analysis, and reliability testing.
- ◆Serve as the senior technical lead on customer programs, from prototyping through qualification, technology transfer, and scale-up to mass production.
- ◆Partner with executive leadership, R&D, product, and business development on product roadmaps, resourcing, and new application opportunities, with clear reporting on schedules, technical risks, and results.
- ◆Present technical results and strategy to customers, executives, and industry partners.
Requirements
- ✓Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field; Master’s or PhD preferred.
- ✓10+ years of experience in semiconductor packaging, process engineering, or thermal management, including 3+ years leading engineering teams or programs.
- ✓Deep, hands-on expertise in wafer/die bonding technologies and the related processes: surface preparation, thin-film metallization, metrology, failure analysis, and reliability testing.
- ✓Strong understanding of advanced packaging architectures (2.5D/3D IC, CoWoS, flip-chip, fan-out) and their thermal management challenges.
- ✓Proven record of taking bonding or packaging processes from R&D through qualification and into high-volume manufacturing, including technology transfer to customers or OSATs.
- ✓Excellent communication and executive presence; able to translate complex technical issues into clear business decisions for management and customers.
- ✓Experience with high-thermal-conductivity materials (diamond, SiC, or similar) is highly desirable.
Show full description ↓Show less ↑
Diamond Foundry Inc. is solving the thermal limitation at the foundation of today's most exciting tech industries -- AI & cloud compute, electric-car power electronics, and 5G/6G wireless. We have managed to produce the world's first single-crystal diamond wafers and are now on a mission to put a diamond behind every chip. We are the rare unicorn that has grown fast and profitably. We received $515m in funding and are executing a multi-$B expansion plan for one of the greenest forms of tech manufacturing: converting greenhouse gas into diamond wafers using zero-emission energy.
Diamond Foundry is seeking an experienced Director of Application Engineering to lead how our single-crystal diamond is integrated into semiconductor devices, with a focus on advanced bonding and packaging. As the world’s leading producer of lab-grown diamond, we are growing our application engineering team to support semiconductor and AI chip customers who need better thermal performance. This role owns the technical bonding strategy and turns it into customer programs, roadmaps, and paths to production.
The ideal candidate is a recognized bonding and advanced packaging expert who can still go hands-on in the lab and can also present technical strategy, risks, and tradeoffs to executive leadership and customers. You can move a process from early prototype through qualification to high-volume manufacturing, and you can build a team that does the same.