Purpose of role:
To develop technologies that will drive future growth of Xaar’s world class inkjet products. Technology development is about capturing the required know-how that will enable the design of new products which push the state-of-the-art in inkjet printing.
Whilst there is an important research element (both internal and external), this role is about the successful delivery of technology into R&D programmes through proof of concept and knowledge transfer.
Report Relationships:
Manager of Technology
Key Accountabilities:
Undertake the coordination, discovery and development activities to deliver new technologies, for example:
- Review external knowledge in the relevant fields
- Develop external relationships / partnerships (where necessary)
- Develop experiments / ideas / concepts / prototypes
- Generate / capture know-how
- Perform detailed structural analysis (where necessary)
- Demonstrate performance
- Report on findings and make recommendations
- Lead knowledge transfer activities
- Above all deliver technologies that add value to Xaar’s customers
As an enabler it will be necessary to develop detailed knowledge in specific technical areas.
Examples:
- Develop a MEMS process capable of fabricating structures of any desired geometry.
- Develop a functional material to achieve specific characteristics e.g. chemical barrier or surface energy (fluid wetting properties).
- Develop the know-how to produce piezo-materials with very long lifetimes.
- Critically examine the potential of new and emerging technologies (as far as they relate to internal priorities).
Key Internal Relationships:
Technology team
Actuator integration team
Programme teams
Key Challenges:
- Quickly establish the value / relevance of technologies to inkjet customers
- Successfully apply technologies to meet specific product requirements
- Co-ordinate applied research activities to deliver results within R&D timescales
- Working effectively with external organisations (industrial and academic)
- Successfully transfer knowledge into new product development
- Develop to a high level, a range of capabilities in a highly technical field
- Make effective plans and decisions even with imperfect data
Person Specification:
- Self-starter with willingness to take the lead when required
- Organised, methodical and data rational
- Creative thinker with the ability to think around problems as well as to solve them
- Excellent attention to detail, whilst able to identify and separate the key influencing factors
- Ability to think across technical disciplines to take in the wider system view
- Ability to achieve practical, commercial results in an applied research field
- Ability to co-ordinate work in an effective manner (both internally and externally)
- Ability to quickly learn new tools, materials and methods
- Excellent analytical skills.
Qualifications and experience:
Essential
- Minimum of a masters degree in physics / chemistry / material science or other relevant discipline
- Ability to analyse and describe the function of complex systems
- Ability to design products or components to meet specific requirements
- Ability to demonstrate commercial viability of candidate ideas / designs.
- Expert user in PC tools
Desirable
- Knowledge of Silicon MEMS devices and fabrication methods
- Use of tools like JMP for data analysis
Highly desirable
- PhD in relevant discipline
- Background in piezo actuators (thin film / PZT / MEMS)
- Design of commercial piezo/MEMS devices.
