Staff Application/System Engineer

Overview

The Staff Engineer operates with substantial autonomy in technical decision-making and is expected to exercise judgment equivalent to that of a senior technical manager, without direct people management responsibilities. Key dimensions of scope:

• Technical Authority: Final internal escalation point for electro-mechanical and application-level issues on all BNS instruments in the China region.
• Impact Radius: Directly influences customer productivity at major accounts across semiconductor, materials science, academic research, and government/defense sectors.
• Cross-Functional Influence: Partners with Product Management, R&D, Sales, and Customer Success to drive instrument improvements, new feature adoption, and customer satisfaction.
• Process Ownership: Leads or co-leads the development of technical standards, SOPs, and application frameworks used by the broader China service team.
• Strategic Contribution: Contributes to the BNS China technology roadmap by synthesizing field intelligence and customer requirements into actionable insights for R&D and product management.

Responsibilities

A.  Technical Leadership & Application Excellence  —  50%

• Serve as the senior application authority for all BNS instrumentation, with particular depth in AFM and Nano Indentation systems.
• Develop, optimize, and document complex customer-specific application protocols — establishing standards that are adopted across the service organization.
• Lead proof-of-concept demonstrations on non-standard, challenging samples for prospective and existing customers, often involving novel experimental design.
• Produce high-quality application notes, technical reports, and user/applications training materials that elevate the technical brand of BNS in China.
• Evaluate and qualify new instrument accessories, software modules, and application workflows prior to customer deployment.

B.  Advanced Instrument Support & Troubleshooting  —  30%

• Own the most complex electro-mechanical and software instrument issues: diagnose root causes across hardware, firmware, control systems, and application software stacks.
• Design and execute structured troubleshooting protocols; document solutions and feed lessons learned back into team knowledge bases.
• Provide remote and on-site advanced support for issues that exceed standard service engineer escalation thresholds.

C.  Customer Empowerment & Training  —  15%

• Design and deliver advanced training programs for customers and internal engineers — covering theory of operation, advanced applications, and best-practice workflows.
• Act as technical coach and mentor to junior and senior field engineers within the China service organization.
• Lead customer technical review meetings and present findings to audiences ranging from lab technicians to C-level executives.

D.  Strategic Projects & Continuous Improvement  —  5%

• Lead or participate in cross-functional projects to improve service efficiency, instrument reliability reporting, or customer onboarding workflows.
• Collect and synthesize field observations into structured inputs for BNS product management and R&D roadmapping cycles.
• Contribute to the development and continuous improvement of BNS China's technical service standards and methodologies.

Qualifications

Required Knowledge

• Advanced theoretical understanding of scanning probe microscopy (AFM in particular), nano-mechanics, and surface characterization science.
• Deep working knowledge of electronics, precision mechanics, vacuum systems, control systems, and embedded software as applied to high-performance analytical instruments.
• Familiarity with applicable international and Chinese standards for instrument calibration, metrology, and safety (e.g., ISO, IEC, national standards relevant to surface analysis).

Required Technical Skills

• Proven ability to install, commission, and qualify complex electro-mechanical instrumentation.
• Expert proficiency with diagnostic tools: oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, multimeters, lock-in amplifiers, and equivalent precision measurement equipment.
• Demonstrated experience with data analysis software (Python, MATLAB, or equivalent) for instrument signal processing and applications development.
• Strong presentation and technical writing skills; ability to produce professional application notes, SOPs, and customer-facing technical reports in English and Chinese.

Required Professional Abilities

• Exceptional analytical reasoning: ability to decompose complex multi-variable instrument issues into tractable hypotheses and test them systematically.
• Skilled technical communicator: adapts depth and style for audiences ranging from PhD researchers to manufacturing floor operators.
• Proven ability to manage multiple complex customer engagements simultaneously with minimal supervision.
• Demonstrated project ownership: plans, communicates, implements, and delivers results on time with measurable outcomes.
• Collaborative leadership: comfortable driving cross-functional technical initiatives without formal authority.