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Senior Quantum Nanofabrication Engineer

Microsoft Corporation

West Lafayette, INJob$120–235K/yrSeen 4 days agoSeen in employer's feed 4 days ago

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At a glance

Compensation
$120–235K/yr
Location
West Lafayette, IN
Work Authorization
Not specified

Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.

Job overview

Microsoft Quantum seeks a Senior Quantum Nanofabrication Engineer for its West Lafayette facility. The engineer will provide hands-on expertise in semiconductor and quantum-device nanofabrication, developing, optimizing, qualifying, and integrating fabrication processes for advanced quantum devices. The role involves independently owning challenging processes, designing and analyzing experiments, troubleshooting fabrication and equipment issues, and collaborating with materials, device, characterization, and engineering teams.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

AI ToolsAI Workflow AutomationAI Agent DevelopmentSemiconductor NanofabricationSuperconducting NanofabricationMEMS FabricationPhotonic FabricationElectron-Beam LithographyOptical LithographyAtomic Layer DepositionE-Beam EvaporationSputteringChemical Vapor DepositionPlasma EtchIon MillingReactive Ion EtchingAtomic Layer EtchingIII-v Semiconductor ProcessingGate Dielectric Deposition

Qualifications

Master's or Bachelor's or Equivalent Experience3+ Years Technical Engineering ExperienceCitizenship or Permanent Residency or Protected StatusCloud Background CheckDoctorate or Master's or Bachelor's or Equivalent Experience3+ Years Technical Engineering Experience8+ Years Nanofabrication Experience8+ Years Lithography Experience8+ Years Thin-Film Deposition ExperienceElectrical Engineering or RelatedComputer Engineering or RelatedMechanical Engineering or Related

Full job description

Overview

At Microsoft Quantum, we aim to empower science and scientists to solve the world’s biggest problems by realizing advanced computing platforms at the intersection of high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, and quantum information technology.  Microsoft Quantum will change the world of computing and help solve some of humankind’s currently unsolvable problems. For more information about our team, visit  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/quantum .

We are seeking a Senior Quantum Nanofabrication Engineer to join the Microsoft Quantum team at our West Lafayette, Indiana facility. This role will provide senior-level, hands-on technical expertise in semiconductor and quantum-device nanofabrication. The successful candidate will develop, optimize, qualify, and integrate critical fabrication processes supporting advanced quantum devices while working closely with materials growth, device design, characterization, and engineering teams.

We are looking for an experienced engineer who can independently take ownership of technically challenging fabrication processes and process modules. The candidate should be comfortable identifying fabrication problems, designing and executing experiments, analyzing results, troubleshooting fab process and equipment issues, and developing robust processes that can be reliably integrated into larger device fabrication flows.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals.

Responsibilities

  • Build quantum devices by drawing on expertise of a large range of nano-fabrication techniques and work with other technical owners to understand the impact of process conditions on device performance.

  • Conduct experiments to create and improve fabrication processes and use quantitative characterization and metrology to establish process windows, identify failure mechanisms, and improve process repeatability and yield.

  • Partner closely with device physicists, materials scientists, growth engineers, characterization teams, and other fabrication engineers to identify factors that impact quantum devices and translate device requirements into practical fabrication processes.

  • Help develop tools needed for improving fabrication by identifying process and equipment capability gaps and assisting with equipment upgrades and process improvements for addressing those gaps.

  • Actively participate in the collection of fabrication and characterization data to maintain and improve processes and to identify opportunities for improved device performance, reliability, repeatability, and yield.

  • Other

  • Embody our culture (https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/culture)  and values (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/about)

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

  • Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 3+ years technical engineering experience

  • OR Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 5+ years technical engineering experience

  • OR equivalent experience

Other Requirements

  • Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:

  • Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

  • Citizenship & Citizenship Verification: This role will require access to information that is controlled for export under export control regulations, potentially under the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) or Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the EU Dual Use Regulation, and/or other export control regulations. As a condition of employment, the successful candidate will be required to provide either proof of their country of citizenship or proof of their U.S. permanent residency or other protected status (e.g., under 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3)) for assessment of eligibility to access the export-controlled information. To meet this legal requirement, and as a condition of employment, the successful candidate’s citizenship will be verified with a valid passport. Lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees may verify status using other documents, where applicable.

  • Ability to leverage AI tools to drive innovation and efficiency (e.g., performance modeling and analysis, research gathering, day to day task automation).

  • Apply AI to accelerate engineering and lab workflows. Design and build AI agents/copilots that assist with experiment setup, log triage, measurement report generation, protocol templating, and knowledge retrieval (e.g., instrument manuals, design docs)

Preferred Qualifications

  • Doctorate in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 3+ years technical engineering experience

  • OR Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 6+ years technical engineering experience

  • OR Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field AND 8+ years technical engineering experience

  • OR equivalent experience

  • 8+ years of hands-on experience of independently developing semiconductor, superconducting, MEMS, photonic, or other advanced micro- or nanofabrication processes.

  • 8+ years of hands-on experience with electron-beam lithography or advanced optical lithography.

  • 8+ years of hands-on experience with thin-film deposition techniques such as atomic layer deposition, e-beam evaporation, sputtering, or chemical vapor deposition.

  • Experience developing plasma etch processes - ion-mill, reactive ion etch, and/or atomic layer etch - for sensitive nanoscale devices.

  • Experience with III-V semiconductor processing and gate dielectric depositions on III-Vs.

#Quantum #QuantumCareers #MDQCareers

Hardware Engineering IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $160,200 - $261,000 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:

https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations. (https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/accessibility.html)

How this job compares

Set against the 2,947 open Hardware Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted October 29, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$120–235K/yr
  • US median$131–201K/yr2,158 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $177K, is 4% above the US median midpoint ($170K) — in the middle half of Hardware Engineer salary ranges across the US.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 19 open Hardware Engineer jobs in Indiana and 2,947 across the US. 1% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most across the US
Experience
This posting asks for at least 3 years of experience; Hardware Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for 5 years at the median (2,476 postings).
Education
1,840 of the 2,947 open Hardware Engineer jobs (62%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on October 29, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.

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