Senior Software Architect

KLA•Milpitas, CA

16h•Onsite

About The Position

The Semiconductor Products and Customers (Semi PC) business unit designs, builds and sells KLA’s product portfolio to help chip manufacturers meet high-quality standards for technologies like AI, data centers, automotive and electronic devices. Our inspection, metrology, and analytics systems detect and monitor defects across logic and memory chips, specialty semiconductors, wafers, reticles, advanced packaging, process equipment and materials. We also develop technologies for specialty processes, IC substrates, and PCB manufacturing, including etch and deposition, component inspection, and imaging and analytics. The e-Beam division plays a critical role in KLA’s inspection ecosystem, with tools that deliver high-resolution, timely insights into defects and critical locations on the wafer. Used alongside KLA’s patterned and bare wafer inspectors, e-Beam systems help our customers quickly identify and understand yield-impacting issues—enabling faster, more effective actions to correct the manufacturing process. In this role, you will play a key part in advancing business priorities by delivering high-impact work across your area of expertise. We are seeking a highly experienced Sr. Software Engineer to lead the architecture, design, and development of complex software systems that power next-generation semiconductor inspection and metrology products. This role is ideal for a hands-on technical leader who thrives on solving challenging engineering problems, defining scalable software architectures, and influencing the technical direction of sophisticated hardware-software platforms. You will work closely with systems engineers, software developers, physicists, algorithm teams, and product engineers to design and deliver high-performance C++ applications that drive innovation across KLA's product portfolio.

Requirements

Advanced Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field.
Strong experience in Microsoft .NET (C#) and/or Java, C++ software development with a track record of delivering high-quality, maintainable solutions.
Proven experience designing and delivering large-scale, complex software systems from architecture through deployment.
Deep expertise in object-oriented design, software architecture, design patterns.
Strong understanding of multi-threaded, distributed, and high-performance software systems.
Experience developing software for complex engineering, scientific, semiconductor, industrial automation, or hardware-integrated applications.
Demonstrated ability to architect scalable and maintainable software solutions that span multiple products and teams.
Strong debugging, troubleshooting, and performance optimization skills in complex software environments.
Experience with software development lifecycle (SDLC), code reviews, automated testing, CI/CD workflows, and software quality practices.
Ability to influence technical direction, lead design discussions, and drive consensus across engineering organizations.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.

Nice To Haves

Experience developing software for semiconductor equipment, metrology, inspection systems, robotics, motion control, or other precision engineering applications.
Knowledge of Linux-based development environments.
Experience designing distributed systems, service-oriented architectures, or real-time software systems.
Familiarity with image processing, machine vision, scientific computing, or data-intensive applications.
Experience mentoring engineers and leading technical initiatives across multiple teams.
Exposure to cloud technologies, software automation frameworks, and modern DevOps practices.

Responsibilities

Lead the architecture, design, and implementation of complex software systems
Define scalable, maintainable, and high-performance software architectures aligned with product and technology roadmaps.
Drive software design decisions, conduct architecture reviews, and establish technical standards across development teams.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams including systems engineering, algorithms, hardware engineering, and product development to deliver integrated solutions.
Analyze complex technical requirements and translate them into elegant, scalable software designs.
Drive resolution of critical system-level issues through root cause analysis and architectural improvements.
Evaluate and introduce new technologies, tools, and development methodologies through proof-of-concept initiatives.
Promote engineering excellence through best practices in software design, code quality, testing, automation, and continuous integration.
Optimize software performance, scalability, reliability, and maintainability across distributed and real-time systems.
Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineers across multiple projects.
Influence long-term software strategy and contribute to future platform and product architecture decisions.
Communicate complex technical concepts, tradeoffs, and architectural recommendations to engineering and business stakeholders.