Surface Treatment and Material Integration Scientist

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Surface Treatment and Material Integration Scientist

Location: Derry/Londonderry, GB

Posting Date: Apr 9, 2025

Job ID: 11907

About our group:

At Seagate our mission is to build the world’s best data storage devices. The Advanced Transducer Development group is a global R&D organization that develops new recording head technologies to advance areal density and enable Seagate’s HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 4 year+ product roadmap. Our process team uses state-of-the-art wafer fabrication tools and cleanroom facilities to innovate and deliver leading-edge writer technologies. With an emphasis on proving feasibility of new devices, processes and materials, we help build Seagate’s future time-to-market leadership. If you are excited by innovative technology development, are naturally creative, and passionate about seeing ideas come to life then this could be a perfect fit to your research and development career.

About the role – you will:

You will join the Advanced Transducer Development team as a Surface Treatment and Material Integration Scientist. Utilizing the latest manufacturing processes and design tools, you will play a crucial role in the development of novel integration methods for new thin film materials to meet our product roadmap\’s performance and reliability requirements. This is a full-time, on-site position, working 39 hours per week from Monday to Friday.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Investigate surface preparation and functionalisation techniques for yielding devices with optimised interface properties.
2. Develop and refine methods to characterise structure, chemistry, energy and properties of metal-metal, metal-dielectric and dielectric-dielectric interfaces.
3. Develop novel, robust and manufacturable methods to integrate novel metal and dielectric thin film structures into nanometre scale head devices.
4. Partner with wafer integration team to develop prototype test build for performance evaluation of integrated materials.
5. Manage and analyse datasets to correlate experimental results with device performance and reliability.

About you:

1. You are self-motivated and intellectually curious, independent, with precise attention to detail.
2. You are an honest and respectful team player who thrives in a diverse project team.
3. You are a well-organised multitasker, balancing daily tasks with longer-term projects.
4. You maintain thorough documentation of results and can clearly present and discuss them with other staff members in engineering and management forums.
5. You have a track record of innovation and regularly use outside sources (journals, patents, university projects and conferences) to inspire new ideas and project solutions.
6. You are able and eager to work in a mix of clean room and laboratory environments.

Your experience includes:

1. PhD in Material Science, Physics, Chemistry, or a related discipline with a research focus on surface treatment, surface characterization methods, and material integration methods.
2. Expertise in surface characterisation methods to analyse surface structure, surface chemistries and surface energies for thin films for optimum material integration.
3. Familiar with range of thin film, surface, interface and nanostructure characterization techniques (e.g. AFM, XPS, contact angle, FIB, SEM, (S)TEM, TDTR, etc.).
4. Minimum of 5 years of industry experience developing best-in-class surface treatments for thin film material integration.
5. Strong analytical skills with knowledge of Six Sigma tools & statistical analysis software such as R or JMP.

Please note that you must demonstrate on the application how you meet the criteria for the role as identified above. To facilitate shortlisting, the company reserves the right to apply enhanced criteria.

Completed applications should be submitted no later than midnight on Sunday, 27th April 2025.

This is a Full-Time position working 39 hours per week, on-site working.

At Seagate we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace. To see all vacancies that Seagate has available, please sign up – Register your interest in career updates with our Talent Network and to be considered for future opportunities.

Seagate Technology is committed to equal opportunity in employment and welcomes applications from all sections of the community irrespective of sex, marital status, religious affiliation, age, disability, or ethnic origin. The Company specifically welcomes applications from the protestant community who are currently underrepresented in this job category. All applications will be considered strictly on merit.

Location:

Springtown, Derry / Londonderry, Northern Ireland

Our Springtown site is Derry/Londonderry’s largest manufacturer, we are proud that Seagate is a flexible and inclusive place to work. We have more than 1,400 employees spanning research and development, manufacturing, and many other functions.

Here at work, you can grab breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks at our subsidized on-site cafe.

Looking for an active break from your workday? We have got you covered. Take a group or individual exercise class during lunch or after work at our on-site gym.

Network with your colleagues through the Young Professionals Network, Women’s Leadership Group, the Carers Café (for caregivers of individuals with disabilities), Volunteer in the community with our support! Join our creative network, which includes a choir, foreign language classes and even a cookery class!

Join our Employee Resource Groups (ERG), a voluntary, employee-led community built on a shared diversity identity and/or an appreciation of that identity, open to ALL current employees at Seagate!

See list below of many of our Company Benefits:

Health – Private Healthcare, for employees and dependents, Company sick pay and medical leave, Occupational healthcare service, Employee assistance programmes, Group income protection and On-site gym/ exercise classes / personal trainer.
Work Life Balance – Annual leave, Flexible working hours, Part-time working, Enhanced maternity pay, Enhanced paternity pay, Bereavement leave.
Finance – Pension – employer contributory scheme, Life assurance, Employee stock purchase plan, Competitive base pay, Company bonus scheme and Perks at Work discount programmes.
Career – Degree / non degree assistance, externally accredited training and development and Learning & development programmes.

Location : Springtown, United Kingdom
Travel : None

About Us

With more than four decades of storage innovation, Seagate empowers humanity to thrive in the data age and helps people and businesses navigate the ever-expanding data landscape.

We craft precision-engineered, cutting-edge solutions that help the world store and manage exponential data growth.

Seagate is powered by our talented and passionate workforce of 29,000 employees across the globe who embody our core values: integrity, innovation, and inclusion. Striving towards excellence every single day, we show up with these values for our customers, business partners, shareholders, and communities alike.

Join us and get inspired to make a difference in the datasphere!

Seagate is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, physical or mental disability, genetic information, marital status, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, military and veteran status, or other status protected by applicable law. We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. EEO Know Your Rights Poster.

Seagate will provide reasonable accommodations with the application process upon request as required to comply with applicable laws. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at

All Seagate jobs will remain open for a minimum of seven days.

For information on how Seagate collects and uses your personal information during the application process, please review the Applicant Privacy Statement.

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