Manager, Mechanical Design Engineering (E) - Milpitas, CA, United States
Originally posted 6 September 2026 by the employer.
Lead the architecture, design, development, integration, and release of advanced semiconductor inspection and metrology systems within the Film and Scatterometry Technology (FaST) Division.
About the role
As Manager, Mechanical Design Engineering, you will lead a team responsible for the architecture, design, development, integration, and release of advanced semiconductor inspection and metrology systems. Your work will directly impact the metrology products within the Film and Scatterometry Technology (FaST) Division, which includes hardware and software solutions for optical film thickness, optical critical dimension (CD), composition, and resistivity measurement systems.
What you'll do
- Lead the design and development of complex mechanical and opto-mechanical subsystems for semiconductor capital equipment.
- Guide teams through complete product development cycles, including requirements definition, concept development, and detailed design.
- Drive application of Design-for-X (DfX) principles including manufacturability, reliability, and cost optimization.
- Manage engineering resources, schedules, budgets, priorities, and technical risks.
- Build organizational capability through recruiting, coaching, and talent development.
- Provide technical leadership on precision mechanical design, opto-mechanical systems, and motion control mechanisms.
What you'll need
- Doctorate degree and 5+ years, Master's degree and 8+ years, or Bachelor's degree and 12+ years of related work experience.
- Experience with CAD design tools such as Creo (Pro/E) or SolidWorks.
- Familiarity with manufacturing processes including machining, sheet metal fabrication, and castings.
- Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals, including design principles, machine elements, and materials.
- Experience in opto-mechanical systems/design, vacuum systems, or design of inspection equipment.
- Knowledge of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and simulation tools.
Nice to have
- Semiconductor inspection, metrology, lithography, wafer processing, or advanced manufacturing experience.
- Experience with GD&T and tolerance stack-up analysis.
This role has been open 38 days — well below the 50-day median for Hardware Systems Engineering roles.
Hardware Systems Engineering · AI ML Hardware
|
Open roles in category
964
|
Median days open
50 d
|
Median salary
$155k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | KLA Corporation | All employers we track in this specialty (964 roles · 103 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 64 | 964 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 209 | 6136 · 145 employers |
| Median days open | 43 d | 50 d (−7 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $155k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Intel Corporation · 71 open roles · median 33 d
- KLA Corporation (this employer) · 65 open roles · median 42 d
- Teradyne · 55 open roles · median 27 d
- NVIDIA · 52 open roles · median 67 d
- Applied Materials · 49 open roles · median 63 d
- AMD · 45 open roles · median 44 d
How we counted: 964 open Hardware Systems Engineering (AI ML Hardware) roles from 103 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 15 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 Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.