Senior Data Scientist (Automation Engineering)

MKS Instruments - Milpitas, CA

Full-time - Senior

Milpitas, CA

Machinery Manufacturing

About the position

We are looking for an exceptional Senior Data Scientist, who will work as part of a cross-functional team leading MKS on its journey to further automate the alignment and attachment of complex opto-mechanical assemblies. We are an interdisciplinary team building the foundation for an automated future, and your role will be to apply your expertise in data management and analysis, machine learning, and statistical modeling to enhance automation systems and other processes through the company. You will work closely with the Automation Engineering Team and other cross-functional teams within MKS to optimize processes and handling of data streams. In short, you will shape data into actionable information and harness data-driven insights to improve our understanding and decision making.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate closely with automation engineers to design and develop data pipelines, process flows and real-time dashboards so that complex system behavior can be easily understood and trackable amongst a larger lake of data.
• Lead data-driven initiatives to optimize and improve automated processes for aligning, attaching, and testing opto-mechanical assemblies.
• Work with high-dimensional data from various sensors, cameras, and robotic systems to generate dashboards and reports as well as derive insights that can drive process efficiency and accuracy.
• Develop and implement machine learning models to analyze large sets of process data, identify trends, and provide actionable insights for continuous improvement.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Data Science, Computer Science, or related Engineering field.
• 3+ years of experience in data science or machine learning roles, with a strong focus on process optimization, final test data streams, or manufacturing processes.
• Expertise in machine learning techniques, including supervised and unsupervised learning, statistical modeling, and time-series analysis.
• Demonstrated experience with actively contributing to complex cross-functional projects from start to finish.
• Data wrangling, feature engineering, and building data pipelines for processing large datasets.
• Python and related data science libraries (e.g., Pandas, Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, etc.).
• Time-series databases and visualization of time-series data.
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills coupled with strong analytical skills.

Nice-to-haves

• An advanced degree - Master or Ph.D. Data Science, Computer Science, or related Engineering field.
• Demonstrated experience with data collection and analysis for optical systems, including imaging systems, laser-based metrology, and machine vision applications.
• Cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure) and large-scale time-series data storage/processing servers (e.g., InfluxDB).
• Automated manufacturing processes, especially in the context of opto-mechanical systems.
• Active alignment of optical components using motorized stages/actuators and laser metrology/image processing feedback.
• A proven ability to turn data into actionable information that can be explained at an executive level.
• An inherent drive to optimize processes and performance of processes, systems, and algorithms.
• Experience with Python and C++ as well as other higher level software tools and frameworks.
• Experience with data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Grafana) and statistical software (e.g., R, MATLAB).
• Experience working with fiber optics and lasers, including diode lasers, solid-state lasers, and fiber lasers, from the UV to the NIR spectrum.