Defect Metrology Staff Engineer - Austin, TX 78741, United States
Originally posted 21 August 2026 by the employer.
This role provides defect metrology recipe application and equipment engineering support across KLA, Applied Materials, and Camtek platforms.
About the role
This role provides defect metrology recipe application and equipment engineering support across KLA, Applied Materials, and Camtek platforms, including brightfield, darkfield, bare wafer, macro inspection, and SEM review systems.
What you'll do
- Write, optimize, and manage defect inspections
- Meet goals for tool uptime, availability, and matching
- Manage the budget for toolsets
- Engage suppliers
- Identify critical defects and report information to Fab Process / Support teams
- Maintain tools, interface with vendors, solve problems, and make recommendations for work
What you'll need
- A BS degree in a technology-related field plus 5 years of related experience or an MS degree plus 3 years of experience
- Technical expertise in understanding defect metrology recipe setup and optimization
- Solid knowledge of equipment engineering
- Prior experience organizing and leading projects
- Ability to manage and execute multiple projects simultaneously and shift priorities to meet business needs
- Proven autonomy identifying critical defects with ability to solve unfamiliar process issues
- Fluency in Data / Statistical analysis and Statistical Process Control
- Experimental design for recipe development and optimization
- Strong understanding of tool hardware / theory, equipment install, startup, and qualification
- Understanding of fab process, technology, and flow
Nice to have
- Experience working with KLA, Applied Materials, and Camtek inspection and review platforms
- Knowledge of fault detection and process control
This role has been open 55 days — slightly above the 53-day median for Semiconductor Equipment Engineering roles.
Semiconductor Equipment Engineering · Manufacturing Equipment
|
Open roles in category
3784
|
Median days open
53 d
|
Median salary
$126k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | SkyWater Technology | All employers we track in this specialty (3784 roles · 83 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 37 | 3784 |
| Open roles in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family | 77 | 9867 · 109 employers |
| Median days open | 55 d | 53 d (+2 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $126k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Applied Materials · 617 open roles · median 53 d
- Lam Research · 558 open roles · median 42 d
- Micron Technology · 281 open roles · median 43 d
- KLA Corporation · 245 open roles · median 67 d
- ASML · 193 open roles · median 70 d
- ASM International · 160 open roles · median 84 d
How we counted: 3784 open Semiconductor Equipment Engineering (Manufacturing Equipment) roles from 83 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 16 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 — it is counted in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family row. Figures refresh nightly.