Applications Specialist - San Diego, CA, United States
$113,400 - $141,800 USD yearly
Originally posted 10 August 2026 by the employer.
About the role
As an Applications Specialist, you will act as the technical bridge between the sales team and customers, ensuring products and/or software are effectively customized, installed, and supported. You will analyze customer requirements, develop technical solutions, and evaluate new applications for automation and semiconductor equipment.
What you'll do
- Present technical solutions in collaboration with customers and stakeholders.
- Participate in and help resolve system-level issues in collaboration with internal engineering resources, customers and stakeholders.
- Identify gaps in product capabilities to align to customer and market needs.
- Act as a technical interface to internal departments as well as customers and external partners.
- Define and align system requirements in close collaboration with engineering teams.
- Analyze client needs, provide pre/post-sales technical support, conduct product demonstrations, and create custom technical solutions.
What you'll need
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, electrical engineering, control engineering, or a related field.
- Minimum of five (5) years of direct design experience or application support of complex mechatronic systems, ideally in semiconductor backend capital equipment.
- Experience with technical standards and industrial development processes.
- Understanding and/or working experience with thermal systems, motion control, control systems, automation robotics, and semiconductor manufacturing processes around packaging and test.
- Willingness to travel up to 50% of time as required for projects and customer support.
- Willingness to work five days a week on-site at the San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) location.
Nice to have
- MSc, MEng, etc. desired.
- Chinese language skills.
Skills: technical solutions, customer requirements, semiconductor backend capital equipment, automation, technical interface
This role has been open 68 days — below the 69-day median for Applications FAE roles.
Applications FAE · Manufacturing Equipment
|
Open roles in category
191
|
Median days open
69 d
|
Median salary
$158k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Cohu | All employers we track in this specialty (191 roles · 17 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 2 | 191 |
| Median days open | 70 d | 69 d (+1 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $158k |
Skills observed across this category: technical solutions, customer requirements, semiconductor backend capital equipment, automation, technical interface
Who's hiring in this category
- Teradyne · 58 open roles · median 29 d
- KLA Corporation · 42 open roles · median 116 d
- Applied Materials · 30 open roles · median 101 d
- Keysight Technologies · 16 open roles · median 63 d
- ASML · 7 open roles · median 116 d
- ASM International · 6 open roles · median 182 d
How we counted: 191 open Applications FAE (Manufacturing Equipment) roles from 17 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 17 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.