System Design Engineer

KLA is a global leader in diversified electronics for the semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem. Virtually every electronic device in the world is produced using our technologies. No laptop, smartphone, wearable device, voice-controlled gadget, flexible screen, VR device or smart car would have made it into your hands without us. KLA invents systems and solutions for the manufacturing of wafers and reticles, integrated circuits, packaging, printed circuit boards and flat panel displays. The innovative ideas and devices that are advancing humanity all begin with inspiration, research and development. KLA focuses more than average on innovation and we invest 15% of sales back into R&D. Our expert teams of physicists, engineers, data scientists and problem-solvers work together with the world’s leading technology providers to accelerate the delivery of tomorrow’s electronic devices. Life here is exciting and our teams thrive on tackling really hard problems. There is never a dull moment with us.

With over 40 years of semiconductor process control experience, chipmakers around the globe rely on KLA to ensure that their fabs ramp next-generation devices to volume production quickly and cost-effectively. Enabling the movement towards advanced chip design, KLA's Global Products Group (GPG), which is responsible for creating all of KLA’s metrology and inspection products, is looking for the best and the brightest research scientist, software engineers, application development engineers, and senior product technology process engineers. The LS-SWIFT Division of KLA’s Global Products Group provides patterned wafer inspection systems for high-volume semiconductor manufacturing. Its mission is to deliver market-leading cost of ownership in defect detection for a broad range of applications in the production of semiconductors. Customers from the foundry, logic, memory, automotive, MEMS, advanced packaging and other markets rely upon high-sample wafer inspection information generated by LS-SWIFT products. LS (Laser Scanning) systems enable cost-effective patterned wafer defect detection for the industry’s most sophisticated process technologies deployed in leading-edge foundry, logic, DRAM, and NAND fabs. SWIFT (Simultaneous Wafer Inspection at Fast Throughput) systems deliver all-wafer-surface (frontside, backside, and edge) macro inspection that is critical for automotive IC, MEMS, and advanced packaging processes as well as foundry/logic and memory fabs. LS-SWIFT operates from a global footprint that includes the US, Singapore, India and Germany, and serves a worldwide customer base across Asia, Europe and North America.

Job Description/Preferred Qualifications

Responsibilities

• Develop, optimize, and qualify system calibrations, health checks, and diagnostic methodologies to ensure consistent tool performance across engineering, manufacturing, and customer sites.
• Own characterization and continuous improvement of optical subsystems including focus modules, illumination systems, image acquisition systems. Drive root-cause analysis and corrective actions for optical performance issues.
• Lead technical investigations for critical customer escalations, coordinate cross-functional root-cause analyses, develop corrective action plans, and provide expert-level support to Field Service, Applications, and Customer Support teams.
• Support NPI activities including engineering builds, beta installations, field qualification, performance validation, and customer pilot deployments. Work closely with software, mechanical, applications, and service teams to ensure successful product introduction.
• Develop diagnostic tools, data analysis utilities, scripts, and automation workflows to improve troubleshooting efficiency, characterization quality, and engineering productivity.
• Be an agent of change: The semiconductor industry is a fast-paced industry with constant change and ever-increasing speed of new product introductions.
• The successful candidate is expected to adopt and drive new ideas and new ways of doing things in a fast moving and highly competitive industry. This is high-visibility role.

Preferred Qualifications

• Masters or PhD in Physics, Optics Engineering, Mechanical, Electrical or related fields with at least 3-5 years of work experience.
• Ability to work effectively with little supervision and achieve results in a timely manner
• Experience with MATLAB, Python, scripting, statistical analysis, and engineering automation tools.
• Effective communicator with good interpersonal skills. Ideally, have strong experience in managing and messaging to customers and Executives.
• Proven track record of technical issues resolution. Good problem solver who works well as part of a focused team.
• Experience developing, integrating, troubleshooting, or supporting complex opto-mechanical, electromechanical, or semiconductor capital equipment systems.
• Strong fundamentals in optics, microscopy, imaging systems, sensors, motion control, precision positioning systems, automation, and system characterization.
• Knowledge of semiconductor manufacturing processes, wafer inspection, defect review, lithography, advanced packaging, metrology, or process control is preferred.
• Excellent English communication skills are required. Ability to speak Mandarin is a plus but not necessary.

Minimum Qualifications

Master's Level Degree and 0 years related work experience; Bachelor's Level Degree and related work experience of 2 years

We offer a competitive, family friendly total rewards package. We design our programs to reflect our commitment to an inclusive environment, while ensuring we provide benefits that meet the diverse needs of our employees.

KLA is proud to be an equal opportunity employer

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