System Design Engineer

KLA•Milpitas, CA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

KLA’s ADE Sustaining Engineering team is seeking a System Design Engineer to support fielded and pre‑production semiconductor manufacturing equipment. This role is heavily hands‑on , with a strong focus on lab testing, root‑cause analysis, and system‑level troubleshooting across optics, interferometry, vibration, motion control, and electronics. The engineer will work directly on complex sub‑systems and full tool configurations, diagnosing performance, reliability, and quality issues, and driving corrective actions in collaboration with design, manufacturing, service, and suppliers. This is not a desk‑only role. Success requires comfort working on live hardware in the lab and on tools, integrating data, theory, and practical troubleshooting to stabilize and improve high‑precision equipment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD degree in Optical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a closely related technical field, with experience commensurate to degree level: PhD with 0–2 years of relevant industry, lab, or applied research experience, MS with 2–4 years of relevant hands‑on engineering experience, BS with 4–6 years of relevant hands‑on engineering experience
Experience working in a hands‑on lab environment supporting complex hardware systems.
Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot and root‑cause issues on physical systems, not limited to modeling or simulation.
Working knowledge in one or more of the following technical areas: Optical systems and interferometry, Precision vibration measurement, transmission, or mitigation, Semiconductor manufacturing or capital equipment, Precision motion control systems (motors, stages, encoders, servos), Electronics, sensors, and hardware interfaces
Ability to independently plan and execute experiments, testing, and validation activities.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to document test results and technical findings clearly.

Nice To Haves

Experience with semiconductor inspection, metrology, or lithography‑adjacent equipment .
Familiarity with vibration metrics, environmental specifications, or facility interaction effects.
Experience supporting sustaining or installed‑base products , including field issue resolution.
Comfortable working directly on tools in a lab or fab‑like environment.
Experience collaborating with manufacturing, service, or supplier engineering teams.
Exposure to data analysis tools (MATLAB, Python, or equivalent) for test data evaluation.

Responsibilities

Perform hands‑on lab and system‑level testing of semiconductor inspection / metrology equipment, including optical, mechanical, and electromechanical subsystems.
Troubleshoot complex issues related to: Optical systems (including interferometers and precision imaging paths), Vibration sensitivity and environmental performance, Precision motion control stages and actuators, Electronics, sensors, and control interfaces
Design, execute, and document validation, characterization, and reliability tests at component, subsystem, and system levels.
Lead root‑cause investigations using data analysis, physical inspection, and experimentation; develop and validate corrective actions.
Support sustaining engineering activities for released products, including performance excursions, reliability issues, and customer‑driven escalations.
Analyze field data, lab data, and sensor logs to identify trends and failure mechanisms.
Collaborate with cross‑functional teams (design engineering, manufacturing, service, quality, suppliers) to implement fixes and improvements.
Support introduction and qualification of incremental hardware, firmware, or configuration changes.
Create clear technical documentation, test reports, and engineering recommendations suitable for design reviews and production release.
Operate as the technical lead for the group and demonstrate the leadership, communication, and organizational skills necessary to build and develop a high-performing engineering team.
As the organization grows, this role may evolve into a formal people-management position with responsibility for a small team of engineers.