Ni–Cr (80/20 at.%) alloy was deposited on the copper foil substrate by DC magnetron sputtering process. Taguchi method was applied to optimize the deposition parameters including sputtering power, substrate temperature, and argon pressure. Sputtering power was found to be the most prominent factor that influenced the electrical properties of Ni–Cr alloy film by employing the range analysis. Embedded thin film resistor (ETFR) with a high resistivity of 6.69 × 10^− 4 Ω.cm and a low temperature coefficient of resistance of 374.78 ppm/K was obtained under the optimized deposition conditions. A feasible way was demonstrated to fabricate high-quality Ni–Cr alloy on copper foil as ETFR materials.