Applications Development Engineer - FaST - Milpitas, CA, United States
$120,000 - $204,000 USD yearly
Originally posted 10 June 2026 by the employer.
Focus on optical film thickness and optical critical dimension (CD) metrology within KLA's Film and Scatterometry Technology (FaST) Division.
About the role
As an Applications Development Engineer in the Film and Scatterometry Technology (FaST) Division, you will lead customer-facing and product engineering projects supporting metrology solutions for semiconductor manufacturing. You will support hardware and software systems focused on optical film thickness, optical critical dimension (CD), composition, and resistivity measurement.
What you'll do
- Lead medium-sized projects including head-to-head (H2H) evaluations, Product Life Cycle (PLC) milestones, alpha characterization, beta testing, and gap analysis. - Create and evaluate characterization and field test plans for metrology systems. - Respond to customer requests, conduct complex problem diagnosis, and resolve technical issues. - Develop and document new applications of existing and pre-release products, including Best Known Methods (BKMs). - Author procedures, engineering standards, training material, and technical documentation while reviewing data quality across related documents. - Serve as the Applications Representative for PLC projects and act as layer owner on complex technical demonstrations.
What you'll need
- Ph.D. in an engineering discipline, Master's degree with 2–4 years of experience, or Bachelor's degree with 3–5 years of experience in engineering applications (or equivalent combination of education and experience). - Strong working knowledge of testing techniques and application engineering principles related to project activities. - Demonstrated ability to recognize system-wide issues and independently resolve complex technical problems. - Project management skills with experience leading project activities such as characterization or field test initiatives. - Technical presentation skills for cross-functional and customer communications.
Skills: metrology solutions, application development, characterization, customer requests, problem diagnosis
This role has been open 135 days — well above the 77-day median for Applications FAE roles.
Applications FAE · Metrology Inspection
|
Open roles in category
127
|
Median days open
77 d
|
Median salary
$130k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | KLA Corporation | All employers we track in this specialty (127 roles · 8 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 93 | 127 |
| Median days open | 71 d | 77 d (−6 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $130k |
Skills observed across this category: metrology solutions, application development, characterization, customer requests, problem diagnosis
Who's hiring in this category
- KLA Corporation (this employer) · 93 open roles · median 71 d
- Onto Innovation · 19 open roles · median 92 d
- ASML · 5 open roles · median 36 d
- Applied Materials · 4 open roles · median 128 d
- Micron Technology · 2 open roles · median 53 d
- Veeco Instruments · 2 open roles · median 85 d
How we counted: 127 open Applications FAE (Metrology Inspection) roles from 8 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 23 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there. Figures refresh nightly.