It was previously confirmed back in November that Apple secured a multi-year supply of sapphire cover glass by prepaying north of $500 million towards the purchase of sophisticated furnaces that will churn out the protective material on an industrial scale. The material production would be handled by a company called GT Advanced at a plant in Mesa, Arizona that would create 2,000 US jobs. The iPhone maker has now begun hiring engineers for the Mesa plant for the positions that specifically mention iPhone and iPod manufacturing.

As discovered by the folks over at 9to5Mac, the company is seeking Manufacturing Design Engineers for a position based in Mesa, Arizona that will “provide end to end manufacturing and process solutions for key design features” for the iPhone and iPod. The engineers would have direct access to Apple’s suppliers, design teams and manufacturing partners, according to the mention. Apple has been hiring for an increasing number of positions at the Mesa plant in recent weeks.

Below is an excerpt from a trio of positions listed on Apple’s Jobs website:

There has been speculation that the deal with GT Advanced might indicate an iWatch because Apple would want to tap sapphire glass to protect the screen on its rumored wearable device from scratches and nicks. Apple currently uses the sapphire crystal to protect the iPhone 5S’ TouchID sensor and camera lens on iOS devices but that doesn’t preclude it from replacing Corning’s technology with sapphire cover glass. In the month leading up to the Apple GT Advanced deal, Corning pointed out that its strength test challenges indicated that sapphire phone screens aren’t as strong as those protected with Gorilla Glass.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens in the future.

Source: Apple via 9to5Mac