Equipment Maintenance Technician

MKS Instruments · Irvine, CA

Level: Technician
Team: Reliability
Degree: Required
Experience asked: 6+ years
Industry: Industrial
Posted: Today

The role in 30 seconds

A technician-level reliability role at MKS Instruments (industrial) in Irvine, CA. , you will report to the Director of Thin Film Engineering.

They ask for: 6+ years · degree required
Tools it names: Painting / coating
Day to day: some off-shift / weekend coverage

Read from the posting. The full description is below.

From the plant jobs report · week of November 2, 2026

Maintenance Technician roles in California: typical posted base $72k–$110k.

Median of the low and high ends of 7 live postings that list pay, out of 110 maintenance technician 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 111 other live reliability postings in California.

Base pay: Not listed in this posting
Experience asked: More than usual (6+ vs 3+)

Skills these teams ask for most

Team leadership 31%
Tooling 30%
PLC 30%
Welding 29%
EHS / safety 21%

✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.

Stands out: this posting asks for Painting / coating, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.

It asks for 6+ years. If you're close, apply anyway: requirements are a wish list. Talk to someone doing this work there first.

At a glance

Off-shift / weekend coverage

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 Reliability team at MKS Instruments
We found 1 person at this company and state: 1 in this kind of role. Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. See 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.
Write to Austin → (free)
3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- How does off-shift and weekend coverage work?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
4
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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: MKS Instruments in Irvine

No other open roles at this site right now · 1 person we found in reliability roles at MKS Instruments.

Full description from MKS InstrumentsAs posted on their careers site.Show

qualifications

and business needs. We conduct background checks and drug screens, in accordance with applicable law and company policies. MKS is generally only hiring candidates who reside in states where we are registered to do business.

If applying for a specific job, please include the requisition number (ex: RXXXX), the title and location of the role

Show full description ↓

A Day in Your Life at MKS

As an Equipment Maintenance Technician at MKS Newport, you will partner with Thin Film Engineering to maintain, update, repair and troubleshooting coating deposition hardware. In this role, you will report to the Director of Thin Film Engineering.

You Will Make an Impact By

•Performing regular preventive maintenance (PMs), pump changes, and component rebuilds.
•Assisting Thin Film Engineering with coating chamber modifications and upgrades.
•Maintaining inventory for all items related to coating machines.
•Disassembling, cleaning and reassembling deposition sources, feed throughs, rotational drives and other items.
•Maintaining and supporting sensors and monitoring equipment and basic operation of Thin Film Equipment to aid troubleshooting of electronics to component level. This will be done through frequent collaboration with Thin Film Engineering and Production Operations to optimize uptime and reliability.
•Organizing, writing and revising preventive maintenance (PM) programs and procedures on all coating systems utilizing a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). You will also do this by writing technical maintenance procedures and processes for production equipment.

Skills You Bring

•Associate degree, military technical training or their equivalent vocational training is required
•6+ years of related experience required
•May require experience in testing digital and/or analog systems

Preferred Skills

+Troubleshooting & repair of technical components
+Hands-on experience with vacuum and/or coating hardware preferred
+Reading and understanding of technical drawings

Physical Demands and Working Conditions

•Perform activities such as sitting, standing, or typing for extended periods of time
•Regularly requires good manual dexterity and coordination
•Occasionally moves/positions objects up to 30 pounds
•Ability to remain in a stationary position for